Assessment of Surface and Ground Water Quality in Ganaja, Lokoja, North-Central, Nigeria

The increasing rise in population, poor sanitation habits, massive flooding and lack of enforcement of environmental Sanitation laws in the study area have contributed immensely to the pollution of water sources. Thus, water samples were obtained from river Niger, hand-dug wells and a bore-hole in Ganaja, Lokoja, north-central, Nigeria for water quality analyses. The hydro-geochemical results showed that the pH values range from 6.70-7.70 indicating alkaline water type. The water hardness of the hand dug wells range from 7.46 - 241.09 with an average value of 110.30 indicating soft to moderately hard water. The hardness value range from 7.47 to 10.78mg/l in the river samples, 56.88 to 207.78mg/l in hand dug wells and 57.35mg/l in borehole sample respectively. The results show values are all above the World Health Organization (WHO) admissive limit and Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality guideline for drinking water. The value of Mg ranges from 1.11 – 10.74mg/l in all the samples, this is above Nigeria Standard for drinking water. The values of the physico-chemical parameters such as the ToC, Ec, BOD, COD, HCO3, CO3, SO4 Cl, NO3 Na, Ca, and the heavy metals including Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn as well as the concentration of TDS, Ca and K in all the other waters samples are within the allowable limits. TDS is linked to taste, hardness, corrosion properties and tendency for incrustation by water. Hard water can cause aesthetic problems including include alkali taste (making morning coffee taste bitter), formation of deposit on dishes, utensils, laundry basins, difficulty in getting soup and detergents to lather, formation of insulating precipitate on clothing, characteristic blue-green staining of sinks, household pipes choking, scaling, incrustations on kitchen utensils and increasing soap consumption. Hardness of water can create both nuisance and economic burden to individual and community. It is advisable that the water be treated against hardness, TDS, Ca, Mg and K before consumption or other domestic use. They should be regular routine monitoring by concerned authorities, as this, will ensure compliance and safety. Keywords: Water quality, Hardness, pH, Hydrochemistry, Heavy Metal and Public Healt