ASSESSING THE NUTRIENT CHARACTERISTICS AND COLIFORM STATUS OF SHALLOW HAND DUG WELL WATER IN OKPUNO-AWKA, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

Shallow hand dug well water is the most essential source of water supply for human consumption in Okpuno-Awka area. This study was carried out to qualitatively assess the natural water sources in the Okpuno-Awka area of southeastern Nigeria with a view of measuring the impact of physico-microbial contaminants from Okpuno-Awka dumpsite leachates. Water samples were collected from forty (40) shallow hand dug wells across the study area and analyzed using various physical and microbial parameters. The results of physicochemical parameters of the hand dug wells revealed a pH range of 5.4 to 6.9 while Electrical Conductivity varied between 84 and 369 µS/cm sequentially for each sampled point. The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) for hand dug well samples ranged from 104 to 789mg/l. On the other hand, the results of the microbial parameters show concentration values of between 28.9mg/l and 21.51 mg/l for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 48mg/l and 20.11mg/l for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 53 mg/l and 29 mg/l for total viable count (TVC) in the surface waters and groundwater respectively. The results indicate that all the measured physical parameters are within the WHO (2012) acceptable limits for drinking water. The waters sources in the study area are also classified as fresh waters based on the proportion of TDS. All the nutrients’ parameters, except for the Phosphate, have values which are within the WHO desirable limits. The highest concentrations of Coliform were recorded in the dumpsite leachate samples. Better wastewater management methods are desirable to improve water quality in the study area.