Groundwater Concentration of Trace Elements In Gbede Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

The availability of good quality water is indispensable feature for preventing diseases and improving quality of life. The study area, Gbede is located between latitude 8?17’37.7” and 8?17’49.8’’ North and between Longitude 4?20’45.9’’ and 4?20’58.8 East on Old road from Ogbomoso to Ilorin. Water samples from eleven shallow well, one deep well and two boreholes were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer to access the suitability of water for human consumption and domestication purposes. The selected trace metals iron, manganese, lead, silicon and cadmium which may be toxic in excess when present in drinking water were determined. The results obtained for the trace metals concentrations range from iron (1.38-1.65mg/L) with an average of 1.52mg/L, manganese (0.6-1.46mg/L) having an average of 1.03mg/L, lead (0.3-1.8mg/L), 1.05mg/L on average, silicon (10-14mg/L) with 12mg/L on average, and cadmium (0.31-0.32mg/L) with 0.32mg/L average respectively. Iron and cadmium exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) Standard guideline for portable water usage. The result reflects high pollution of iron and cadmium which may be associated with lateritic rocks present in the study area. It is therefore recommended that for a safe and quality water, a treatment process must be introduced in the area