DISTRIBUTION OF METAL CONTAMINANTS IN AZARE GROUNDWATER SYSTEM.
DISTRIBUTION OF METAL CONTAMINANTS IN AZARE GROUNDWATER SYSTEM.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2006-12
Authors
KEHINDE, AKINOLA LUKMAN.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The distribution of metal contaminants in Azare groundwater system was
investigated in this study. Concentrations of total and soluble forms of K,
Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb and Cd were determined in randomly selected
twenty boreholes and twenty hand-dug wells within Azare town using flame
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Findings revealed that, the mean total
concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb and Cd in borehole waters
were 0.3233±0.2455mg/L, 0.5433±0.1762mg/L, 0.3178±0.1641mg/L,
0.2386± 0.1361mg/L, 0.3260 ± 0.3187mg/L, 0.1879± 0.1082mg/L, 0.1234 ±
0.1480mg/L, and 0.0049 ± 0.0037mg/L respectively while the mean total
concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb and Cd in well waters were
0.8790± 90.6823mg/L, 1.1923±1.1337mg/L, 0.9543±1.0186mg/L, 0.0953±
0.1083mg/L, 0.1890±0.0791mg/L, 0.1645±0.1238mg/L, 0.0965±
0.0491mg/L, and 0.0041±0.0034mg/L respectively. It was also discovered
that in all the samples investigated, concentrations of Cu and Zn were found
below the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for these metals in
drinking water (MCL for Cu = 1.3mg/L and MCL for Zn = 5.0mg/L) while
the total concentration of Pb exceeded the MCL for this metal in drinking
water (MCL for Pb = 0.015mg/L). Concentrations of total Mn exceeded the
MCL for this metal (0.05mg/L) in all the borehole waters investigated but it
only exceeded the MCL for this metal in 95% of the well waters
investigated. The concentrations of total Cd was found to exceed the MCL
for this metal (0.005mg/L) in 45% of the borehole waters and 35% of the
well waters investigated in this study. Apart from K and Cu, no significant
differences were found between the mean concentrations of total metal
contaminants in boreholes and hand-dug wells investigated. Findings also
revealed that on the average, K, Ca, Mg, Zn and Mn exist predominantly in
the soluble phase while Cu, Pb and Cd exist predominantly in the particulate
phase. The average proportions of the soluble forms of these metals in
boreholes were 84.9% for K, 80.5% for Ca, 88.6% for Mg, 22.2% for Cu,
67.2% for Zn, 56.8% for Mn, 39.9% for Pb and 17.5% for Cd while the
average proportions of the soluble forms of these metals in hand-dug wells
were 93.1% for K, 87.6% for Ca, 91.8% for Mg, 25.5% for Cu, 69.3% for
Zn, 76.5% for Mn, 44.5% for Pb and 42.5% for Cd. Implications of the
findings were discussed and some useful suggestions given.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF
SCIENCE IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA
DECEMBER, 2006
Keywords
DISTRIBUTION,, METAL CONTAMINANTS,, GROUNDWATER,, SYSTEM.