Assessment of geographical determinats of water quality in some selected urban residential estates in Ibadan

Abstract

The study assessed water quality in the residential estates of Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo state, Nigeria. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 7 estates (Aerodrome, Aare (one of the estates in Bodija), Basorun, Ashi, OLuwokekere, Oluwonla and Ikolaba, because of the high concentration of boreholes there. Consequently, a copy of household pretested questionnaire was systematically administered to 326 respondents in every 5th building, drawn from the selected estates. Issues that raised include the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents, dominant sources of water, water analysis was carried out on the physiochemical (iron, lead and zinc) characteristics, temperature and pH of the water on site and the perceived effect of metals on health of the respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out at p<0.05. The study revealed the water quality in estates are acidic as the pH scale of estates water was between 4.0, and 5.5. the study also revealed Physiochemical parameters to be iron (0.634), lead (0,058) and zinc (0.073). It was revealed that more than 90% of respondents that went for medical checkup were diagnosed with diabetics. Conclusively, the quality of water in the area fell below the acceptable standard. therefore, prospective borehole sinker should carry out water treatment and also follow appropriate planning guideline in the sinking of boreholes.