Description
ABSTRACT
Drinking water quality is a critical factor affecting human health particularly in natural resource-dependent countries including Nigeria. Hydrocarbon related pollution, mining waste, microbial load, industrial discharge and other anthropogenic stressors degrade drinking water quality in coastal communities and pose serious public health and ecological risks. This study evaluated the physicochemical properties of drinking water of the wastewater generated in selected community (Kurutie) in Gbaramatu Kingdom, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, to assess the water quality using the water quality index (WQI) and pollution models. Nitrate, chromium, cadmium, copper, lead, aluminium, pH, total hardness, total dissolved solids, cyanide and residual chlorine were measured in twelve selected locations across three communities. WQI results of 139 to 44180 indicated that analyzed water samples exceeded the critical WQI value of 100, in addition the mean pH of the water samples recorded 8.11 ± 0.32, indicating unsuitability for consumption. Nickel ranging from 0.014 to 0.176 mg/L and residual chlorine 11.6 to 7407 mg/L were the major contributors to the degradation of water quality and exceeded the WHO recommended limit of 0.02 and 0.25 respectively. While groundwater had better organoleptic properties compared to surface and rain water, the geo-accumulation index showed that water sources vary from moderately to heavily contaminated with Ni and Cd. The WQI and pollution model results indicate that immediate action is required by stakeholders to address water quality deterioration by wastewater generated in that area (e.g., providing alternative water supply) as existing water resources in the area pose significant health risks to the local population.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
- THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT
1.1.2 GROUNDWATER AND POLLUTION
- STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
- AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- SCOPE OF THE STUDY
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 PROPERTIES OF WATER
2.2 SOURCES OF WATER
2.3 TYPES OF WATER
2.4 USES OF WATER
2.5 INDUSTRIAL USES
2.6 NIGER DELTA AND WATER QUALITY
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 MATERIAL AND METHOD
3.1 STUDY AREA
3.2 SAMPLE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
3.3 DATA ANALYSIS
3.4 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
3.5 WATER QUALITY INDEX
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
CHAPTER FIVE
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATION
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Access to safe and potable drinking water is a basic need of mankind and a human right, including health and food. This justifies the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, which seeks to achieve access to clean water and sanitation for all by 2030. The goal seeks to improve water quality by limiting contamination, eliminating dumping and reducing release of chemical substances and materials into the water, to increase safe use and reuse of water globally (WHO 2019; UNEP 2021).
Water is needed and used globally by humans irrespective of nationality, tribe, region, religion, color or societal status because it is one of the greatest factors that determine human health and development (Li and Wu 2019; Delpla et al. 2020). Despite its importance, the quality of available drinking water is often compromised due to pressures exerted on it by growing population, agricultural production, natural resource exploration and mining, urbanization, and industrialization (Naeem et al. 2013; Li and Wu 2019). With increasing wastewater generating, the continuous pollution of water resources by anthropogenic and industrial activities has cumulative impacts on humans. Anthropogenic activities including dumping of mixed waste in water bodies, onshore and offshore hydrocarbon spillages, and open defecation contribute potentially toxic elements (PTEs) to water resources (Naeem et al. 2013). Hydrocarbon contamination for example, exposes surface and underground water to toxic elements including benzene (which is a carcinogenic substance), and affects the quality of drinking water (UNEP 2011). Considering that water quality is a health determinant, consumption of water contaminated either by biological or chemical means may likely pose serious health risks to public health. An estimated 2.3 billion people suffer from water- borne diseases globally (Ahmed et al. 2020), while 485,000 people die from diarrhea as a result of contaminated drinking water yearly (WHO 2019). The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that water contamination contributes to 70% of different diseases and 20% of cancers on a global scale (WHO 2022).
Discharge of domestic and industrial effluent wastes, leakage from water tanks, marine dumping, and radioactive waste into water bodies constitute contamination, and degrades water quality. When this happens, these water bodies accumulate heavy metals and pose harm to humans, animals and entire ecosystem. The toxicity of PTEs or specifically, heavy metals (e.g., cadmium, zinc, lead, copper, manganese, magnesium, iron, arsenic, silver, and chromium) from mining, smelting or hydrocarbon exploration activities can have lethal and harmful effects on human health and the ecosystem (Vanloon and Duffy 2005). In addition, toxins in industrial waste have been identified as a major cause of immune suppression, cancer, reproductive failure and acute poisoning. Infectious diseases, like cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, polio, trachoma, and abdominal pain (Juneja and Chauhdary, 2013) and other gastroenteritis, including diarrhea, vomiting, skin and kidney problem are spreading through contaminated water (Khan and Ghouri 2011; Chima and Digha 2009; Digha and Abua 2016).
Considering the importance of water quality, many nations have developed systems and agencies to establish water quality monitoring programs. These systems help decision-makers to understand, interpret and use available data to enhance the protection of water resources (Behmel et al. 2016). As a result of effective monitoring and access to water quality data to protect the resources and human health, many countries have reformed their water regulatory framework towards sustainable development as recommended by Agenda 21 (UNEP 1992). In Nigeria for example, government have developed a number of initiatives to protect water resources. In November 2018, the Nigeria government declared a state of emergency in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, as part of measures to protect increasingly degraded water resources and the upsurge of water borne diseases (Wada et al., 2021). However, this initiative is yet to yield desired outcomes due to limited finance, poor service delivery, lack of stakeholder collaboration and adhoc implementation (Musa et al. 2021). Nigeria intends to achieve 100% access to clean water and sanitation by 2030, with focus on rural communities. Although these efforts have focused on biological contaminants, achieving this will require significant investments in building necessary infrastructure, maintaining existing ones and awareness creation. Also, it will require a stringent monitoring of PTEs as they constitute a major contributor to water contamination. In terms of investment, Nigeria needs an estimated $2.7 billion USD to achieve outlined targets by 2030 (Musa et al. 2021), and the government is expected to provide 25% of the funds, while 75% will be incurred by households to build toilets. Households in the face of the current economic woes are focused on basic needs (i.e., shelter and food) and would likely continue open defecation in the nearest future.
1.1.1 The Importance of Water Quality Assessment
Water quality assessment process is an evaluation of the physical, chemical and biological nature of a water body in relation to intended uses particularly as it affects human health (Chapman, 1996). The quality of water may be described in terms of concentration and state (dissolved or particulate) of some or all the organic and inorganic materials present in the water, together with certain physical characteristics of water. It is determined by in-situ measurements and by examination of water samples on site or in laboratory. The main elements of water quality monitoring are, therefore, on-site measurement, the collection and analysis of water samples, the study and evaluation of the analytical results, and the reporting of the findings. The results of analyses performed on a single water sample are only valid for the particular location and time at which the sample is taken (Marky and Raman, 2011).
Unsatisfactory water supply and unwholesome sanitation conditions can result in poor human health. This portends the fact that there are very strong relationship between water and health (WHO/UNICEF, 2004). It is a natural resource whose scarcity or poor quality can cause a chain of unpleasant situations for mankind, especially in developing countries like Nigeria where access to improved drinking water is still a serious problem. There are many ways in which poor water quality and sanitary conditions can give rise to poor health (McJunkin, 1982; WHO, 2008). Water-related diseases are responsible for 80% of all illness/deaths in developing countries, killing more than 5 million people every year (UNESCO, 2007). Water borne diseases, as well as water related diseases which include cholera and other diarrheal diseases, as well as other water related parasitic diseases like schistosmiasis, guinea worm and river blindness are very common (WHO, 2006). In developing countries, thousands of children under the age of five die every day due to drinking of contaminated water (WHO, 2006). Thus lack of safe drinking water supply, basic sanitation and hygienic practice are associated with high morbidity and mortality. In fact, one of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is to reduce persistent poverty and promote sustainable development worldwide especially in developing countries through the improvement of drinking water supply and sanitation. The MDG target for water is to half, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation (UNESCO, 2007). The WHO (2008) estimates that if these improvements were to be achieved in Sub-Sahara Africa alone, 434,000 child deaths due to diarrhoea alone would be averted annually.
1.1.2 Groundwater and Pollution
Groundwater exploitation has been with man way back in the ancient times. The civilizations of the ancient time had its success anchored on water supplies from groundwater as well as surface water. It is reported that in 1183 BC, crusade prisoners in Egypt constructed wells from excavated rocks which they called Joseph’s well to ensure the citadels and water supply. The drilling instead of the usual digging of wells began in the 12th century with successful drilling of well at Artois of France in 1226 (Osiakwan, 2002).
In the basement rocks, groundwater occurs in the weathered regolith and the fractured zones which sieves as the aquifer zone and usually occurs at depth ranging from 0m to a maximum of 60m. This underground water is protected from surface contamination by a layer of clay and fine grained sediments. The level of groundwater in the borehole may undergo change due to the recharge and discharge. The rate at which a borehole is recharged may vary due to variation in rainfall events, or as influent flows from nearby streams and rivers. A geological material that stores and transmits groundwater freely is known as an aquifer (Back et al., 1993).
Groundwater, like any other water resource, is not just of public health and economic values (Armon and Kitty, 1994). Water pollution has become a question of considerable public and scientific concern in light of the evidence of their toxicity to human health and biological systems. Heavy metals receive particular concern considering their strong toxicity even at low concentrations (Marcovecchio et al., 2007). Groundwater may contain some impurities or contaminants, which may be above the permissible limit as recommended by WHO even without human activities or disturbances. Natural contaminants can come from many conditions in the water shed or in the ground. This is because water moving through rocks or soil may pick up magnesium, calcium, chlorides, fluorides while some groundwater contain dissolved elements such as arsenic, boron, selenium, lead, cadmium, iron and manganese ( Alloy and Ryres, 2009).
These natural contaminants become a health hazard when they are present in high concentration. Also, groundwater is often polluted by human activities such as the use of fertilizers, animal manure, herbicides, insecticides and pesticides. Other sources of groundwater contamination can originate in the house or other forms such as dormitories, poorly built septic tanks and sewage systems for household wastewater. Leaking or abandoned underground storage tanks and improper disposal or storage waste chemical spills at local industrial sites also contribute to pollution of groundwater. Abandoned wells that have not been plugged or dismantled provide a potential pathway for water to flow directly from the surface into the groundwater. Open wells can become contaminated by the working fluids such as grease and oil from the pump or contaminants from the surface if the well cap is not tightly closed or if the lining is cracked or corroded (USEPA, 2007).
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Drinking water quality has always been a major issue in many countries, especially in developing countries such as in Nigeria (Assembly of Life Sciences, 2017). The World Health Organization in its “Guidelines for drinking water quality” publication highlighted at least seventeen different and major genus of bacteria and heavy metals that may be found in borehole water which are capable of seriously affecting human health (WHO, 2016). The proportion of waterborne disease outbreaks associated with borehole water has been increasing over the years (Moe & Rheingans, 2016). To solve this problem, the qualities of borehole water samples need to analysed. This study determines physio-chemical and heavy metal analysis of drinking water samples taken from Kurutie Community Gbaramatu Kingdom, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Physio- chemical analysis includes analysis of pH, total chlorine, and turbidity and total Iron.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
AIM
The main aim of this study is to investigate the Physico-Chemical Properties and to carry out heavy metal assessment of water sources in Kurutie Community Gbaramatu Kingdom, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This was achieved through the following objectives.
OBJECTIVES
i. To determine the concentration of pH, Chloride, Calcium, Total Hardness, Magnesium, Alkalinity etc. of water source in Kurutie
- To analyze the physio-chemical status of different water sources in Kurutie Community.
- To ensure that water consumed by the residence of the community is safe.
- To ensure that water sold in that community compliance with World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) specification for drinking water.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The present study has revealed that some of physico-chemical and heavy metal parameters of the water sources had values beyond the maximum tolerable limits recommended by WHO and SON. Thus, it calls for appropriate intervention, including awareness development work and improving the existing infrastructure in order to minimize the potential health problems of those communities currently realizing of the available water sources.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is useful in increasing awareness about the importance of maintaining clean water by using easy and effective methods which will reduce the chance of pathogenic microorganism survival and disease transmission for the consumers residing in such environment. This study helps to ensure that water sources in that reaches the public is safe.
1.6 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the present study was to ensure that quality of water consumed by the residence of Kurutie Community is safe and free of concentration of heavy metals, chloride, chromium, pH, total suspended solid, alkalinity conductivity etc.
1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
At the end of this work, student involved shall be able to give answers to the following questions:
- What are the types of heavy metals identified in water?
- What is water contamination?
- What are the heavy metals common in water?
