Effects of Farming Activities and Poor Sanitary Practices on Physicochemical Characteristics of Surface and Groundwater Sources of Kaura-Namoda,  Zamfara State, Nigeria

 

Abstract

Water naturally contains many different dissolved inorganic constituents. The two types of water under study here are groundwater and surface water. The quality of groundwater and surface water generally varies depending on the soil types and environmental activities carried out by humans. For this study, 20 samples of underground and 8 samples of surface water within Kaura Namoda Town were collected in the wet season and dry season tested and analyzed using WHO and NSDWQ quality guidelines for potable water. A total number of 19 quality parameters were tested for the wet season while 10 quality parameters were tested for the dry season. The findings reveal that in the groundwater, all the values determined show that the quality of groundwater is safe within an acceptable level and poses no health challenge to the consumers. On the other hand, the findings also establish that the quality values for the surface water in both wet and dry seasons for total hardness, total coliform, Magnesium, and Phosphate were found to exceed the permissible level but pose no health hazard to the users. Despite the negative side effects of unwholesome sanitary practices on sources of water this investigation shows that sanitary practices had not adversely affected the quality of water sources to make it unusable, however we recommends that improvement in sanitary practices is necessary for homes and the environment. Based on the increasing trend of magnesium concentration discovered in this present study it is hereby recommended that  further research be conducted to find out the source of magnesium infiltration to the water sources and how to minimize the level in the study area.

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