HAZARDS OF HAND-DUG WELL WATER IN THE CORE AREA OF AKURE, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Water is an essential ingredient or commodity needed for human existence because more than 75% of the human body is made up of water. Hand-dug wells (HDWs) are the major source of water supply in developing nations especially Nigeria. Successive governments in Nigeria have abdicated their responsibilities to the citizens by not investing enough resources to the provision of safe and good quality water, hence individuals have taken up this responsibility of providing Dug Wells to solve their water challenges. The structured questionnaires were designed to elicit information from the residents on socio-economic characteristics and water quality in the study area. Also, well water samples were taken from 11 residential quarters for comprehensive laboratory analysis (chemical and biological analysis). Parameters that were investigated include pH, e-coli and coliform etc. The Global Positioning System (GPS) device was employed to take the coordinates of all the Hand-dug wells water to show their spatial locations. The study revealed that majority (73.3%) of the sampled residents use less than 40 liters of water per day, while most of dug wells maintained an average setback of less than 16 meters to soak away pits. Considerable percentages (56.9%) of the wells water are colourless; average pH falls within 6.07 – 8.05 with highest pH (8.05) value recorded at Alafiatayo while the lowest (6.72) was recorded at Cathedral area. The water analysis tests show that dug wells in the study area contains e-coli and coli form bacteria which make the water unfit for most domestic uses. It was observed that the observed wells do not meet the expected standards. Hence, hand dug wells should be located at least 20 m away from dumpsites, pit latrines and soak-away pits. The study recommends regular treatment of wells and the adoption of pipe-borne water supply system as alternative form of domestic water supply in the study area.