Physicochemical Quality of Selected Borehole Water in Nembe Local Government Area, Bayelsa State

This study was carried out to assess portability in relation to physiochemical quality characteristics of borehole water in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. A cross-sectional study design was employed for the study which involves the collection and analysis of data from a population or a representative subset at a defined time.In this regard, a detailed physical and chemical analysis of public borehole water samples was carried out in five randomly selected communities (Ogbolomabiri, Bassambiri, Igopiri, Otatubu and Etieama) in the study area. A number of parameters such as pH, colour, turbidity, conductivity, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), and chemical properties such as dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, chlorides, total hardness, copper and iron were analyzed for each water sample collected during the study.The analysis was done using descriptive statistics method with the aid of SPSS. The obtained values of each parameter i.e. pH ranges from 4.65 ± 0.4 to 6.86 ±0.61, TDS ranges from 38.3 ± 3.05 to 543.6 ± 3.5 (NTU), Turbidity ranges from5.7 ± 1.52 to 42.6 ± 2.51(mg/l), TSS ranges from 1.10 ± 0.37 to 37.3 ± 2.5(mg/l), EC ranges from 55.0 ± 2.64 to 829.3 ± 2.5(μs/cm), Colour ranges from 8.3 ± 2.5 to 341.0 ± 4.00(Pt-Co), Cl- ranges from 15.67 ±1.52 to 241.0 ±3.00(mg/l), DO ranges from 4.8 ±0.30 to 7.06 ±1.10(mg/l), BOD ranges from 1.57 ±1.02 to 2.66 ±0.40(mg/l) andTotal hardness ranges from5.6 ±1.62 to 179.7 ±2.51(mg/l)were compared with the standard values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The values of each parameter were found to be within the safe limits set by the WHO except for water samples in Otatubu borehole whose colour was brown, colour units341.0 ± 4.00(Pt-Co) and turbidity unit 42.6 ± 2.51(mg/l), exceeded the WHO recommended limit for drinking water hence water from that borehole is not safe for drinking while that of iron and copper showed insignificant result of <0.001(mg/l) each. Overall, the water from the other locations was found to be safe as drinking water. However, it is advisable further investigation should be carried out to determine the concentration of other potential water contaminations such as microbial and radiological materials for a longer period of time, including human body fluids, in order to assess the overall water quality of the Local Government Area investigated.