PHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES OF WATER FOR DRINKING AND SANITARY PURPOSES IN SELECTED SCHOOLS IN PARTS OF RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The quality of water depends on the physicochemical and microbial characteristics. This study was carried out to analyze the quality of water for drinking and sanitary purposes in selected schools in part of Rivers State, Nigeria and was carried out using 30 water samples from 30 different schools selected randomly. Parameters analyzed include potency of hydrogen (PH), electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), concentration of nitrate, sulphate, chloride, magnesium, calcium and some heavy metals: iron, copper, zinc, lead and manganese. The results obtained were compared with standards prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), the PH values range between 3.78 and 7.72 for the water samples, thus are said to be acidic and not good for drinking, salinity values range from 0.018 – 0.202mg/l which makes the water very suitable for sanitary purposes and electrical conductivity values range from 38.8 – 378.7μS/cm. Other physiochemical parameters analyzed are within WHO and SON standard for drinking water except for magnesium for which 67% of the samples have elevated values ranging from 0.27 – 3.38mg/l, above the allowable limit stipulated by WHO and SON. All heavy metals present in the water samples are within the WHO and SON limits, making the water virtually free from dangers to the human body posed by the presence of heavy metals. The knowledge from this study can be applicable in water resources, environmental and health management as well as in hydrological activities.