Full Project – Assessment of levels of pollution of water boreholes

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Increasing vulnerability of groundwater pollution due to both natural and anthropogenic activities warrants that proactive measures should be initiated to protect and reduce the vulnerability of this invaluable resource. Across the world, increasing number of mathematical modeling studies has documented increasing vulnerability of groundwater resource. Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is well known, however in some instances natural processes also contribute to the mobilize pollutants. Variety of organic pollutants enters the environment due to improper disposal of industrial, municipal and agricultural wastewater. Poor waste management, storage, transfers and disposal of liquid, solid and semi-solid waste also contributes to the organic as well as microbial pollution load to groundwater.

Inorganic pollutants impact groundwater through variety of sources. Land use practices such as urban residential development, septic tanks and agricultural practices can impact groundwater quality as demonstrated by (Chukwu, 2008)

Surface water is used for a variety of purposes like drinking, washing, bathing, recreation as well as numerous other varied industrial applications. The wholesomeness of these surface waters has become an issue of great concern. Water pollution is a burning issue all over the world. In recent years an increasing awareness has developed on the impact of human activities on the environment because our environment has witnessed a continuous and rapid deterioration which cause pollution in all its abiotic and biotic components. According to a World Health Organization report on guideline for drinking water, safe drinking-water, as defined by the Guidelines, does not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption; including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages (WHO 2008). For this reason, particular concern has become apparent regarding the adequacy of the quality of water resource; both surface and groundwater resources. The impact of human activities in the urban, municipal and populated area makes surface water bodies like streams, river, lagoons, etc, and ground water bodies to be susceptible to contamination from pollutants. Pollution of soil and water by heavy metal occurs due to industrial wastes, application of fertilizer, corrosion of sheeting, wires, pipes, and burning of coal and wood (Nwankwoala et al., 2011). These pollutants include; heavy metals, industrial chemicals, sewage, etc discharged from sources like urban runoffs, industrial waste waters, sewage treatment plants, chemical fishing activities, leachate from refuse dumps, agricultural fertilizer application, etc. of all the above mentioned pollutants released into water bodies, heavy metals are the most persistent in the environment and also very toxic. The term heavy metal refers to metallic chemical elements that have relatively high density and are toxic or poisonous at low concentration values.

In Nigeria, the rate of urbanization characterized by high population concentration, increasing industrial and agricultural activities coupled with environmental pollution/degradation and indiscriminate disposal of all kinds of wastes are perceived to pose serious pollution threats with all its concomitant health hazards on groundwater quality especially in urban areas (Kehinde, 1998; Ajala, 2005; Eni et al, 2011). This concern has attracted overwhelming attention of researchers in different parts of Nigeria urban areas. This borders on the fact that the public or municipal water supply is inaccessible to a large proportion of urban dwellers, and even where is available the supply is highly inadequate, unreliable and irregular.

Consequently, there is high dependency on untreated groundwater abstracted through hand dug wells and borehole systems (Ocheri, 2010). According to Forster et al (1998) urbanization affects the quality and quantity of underlying sub-surface water by radically changing the pattern and rate of recharge, initiating new abstraction regimes and adversely affecting the quality of primary concern is the quality of groundwater exploited for drinking as well as other domestic uses.

This is because consumption of water that is polluted has serious health implication as such World Health Organization has to set safe standards for drinking water. This concern has attracted overwhelming studies on the quality status of groundwater abstracted from shallow wells (hand dug wells) and deep wells (boreholes) for human consumption in urban areas of Nigeria.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The location of boreholes very close septic tanks in hostels and other residential buildings in Nekede has reached alarming rate. The seepage of waste buried underground, leachates due to the application of fertilizers and surface runoffs from these anthropogenic sources is believed to have affected the quality of groundwater across the study area (Ibe et al. 2014). There are extensive reports on the upsurge of contaminants in groundwater resources around the study area over the years and this has consequently aroused public nervousness regarding the quality of groundwater resources in the study location (Duru et al. 2019). The need for safe potable water supply for both domestic and industrial usage has generated much apprehension which calls for regular monitoring to ascertain the quality of water used for various purposes in Nekede. The solution to the supply of sustainable safe drinking water is therefore, to safeguard the groundwater resources to ensure their sustainability and suitability for consumption. Pollution hazards and health risk issues due to the intake of contaminated water have been reported worldwide (Ibe et al. 2019). The effect of drinking contaminated water includes diarrhea, typhoid, cholera etc.

1.3 AIMS/ OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main objective of this study is Assessment of levels of pollution in water boreholes in Nekede, Imo State.

The specific objectives are:

To evaluate the water parameters of some boreholes in Nekede and
To determine their pollution levels

1.4 JUSTIFICATION

This study is very important because the residents within the study area lack access to public pipe-borne water and therefore depend solely on groundwater resources for their household water requirements; hence the need to regularly monitor the groundwater sources for possible contamination. Similarly, there is a dearth of documented account or data of the groundwater quality of the area. Also, there is little or no publication from the area that has used all the water quality and pollution evaluation models employed in the present study to evaluate the quality of groundwater sources in the area. Otamiri river has been grossly contaminated for both drinking and other domestic uses. The effect of wastes generated by students and septic tanks located very close to boreholes are possible anthropogenic sources that may influence the level of contaminants in the groundwater resources of this area. The report of this study would, therefore, create the necessary awareness and consciousness amongst the inhabitants, town planners, and other relevant government agencies.

1.5 THE SCOPE OF STUDY

This study will dwell mainly on the physico-chemical analysis of some selected groundwater samples from boreholes in Nekede town. The samples results will be compared with World Health Organisation (WHO) standard for drinking water.

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Full Project – Assessment of levels of pollution of water boreholes

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Full Project – Assessment of levels of pollution of water boreholes

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