Abstract:
In an attempt to probe the quality of borehole water samples in Nsukka urban area of Enugu State, Nigeria, samples were collected from three locations within the area and analysed for some physico-chemical and microbial parameters, which were compared with the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) and the World Health Organization (WHO) standard for compliance evaluation. The physicochemical parameters include; pH, Hardness, Total Solids, Alkalinlity, Turbidity, Sulphate, Phosphate, Silica, Cu, Pb, Fe, Residual Chlorine and Chloride with results ranging from 6.29-6.43, 15-483mg/l, 41.4-227.2mg/l, 0.00-0.00mg/l, 0.2-0.5NTU, 12.48-17.92mg/l, 0.6-1.3mg/l, 0.12-0.29mg/l,0.00-0.00mg/l, 0.00-0.25ppm, 0.1630-0.2853ppm, 0.00-0.00mg/l and 64.98-78.61mg/l respectively. All the physicochemical parameters were within the standard limits recommended by WHO and NSDWQ, except for the following; pH which was slightly below the standard limit (6.5-8.5), Hardness for Bw1 and Bw3 which were above the NSDWQ standard limit of 150mg/l and Pb which was present in Bw3 above the limit of 0.01ppm. High values were obtained for Total Heterotrophic count of coliform bacteria with values ranging from 1.70 x 102 - 3.00 x 104Cfu/ml, which are well beyond the NSDWQ stipulation of 10Cfu/ml. Escherichia coli was detected in Bw3 having counts of 1.8x 102Cfu/ml, which is grossly above the NSDWQ stipulated limit of 0Cfu/ml. Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. were not detected in any of the borehole water samples.
