V. U. Nkemdirim^1,, G. C. Alozie², Ike Felix¹

The importance of potable water has been documented by many researchers. However, one major challenge in Nigeria is the ability for both rural and urban areas to access a clean water supply. This study examined the spatial analysis of the quality of groundwater supply in selected urban centres of Abia State. To achieve this, 13 borehole water samples were collected using purposive sampling technique. The parameters tested include; Temperature (°C), pH value, Electrical conductivity (µs), Total suspended solids (mg/l), Biological Oxygen demand (BOD),Turbidity (NTU), Sulphate (So₄), Chloride (Cl), Nitrate (No₃), Potassium (K), Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe) Copper (Cu) and Lead (Pb). The results of the water samples were compared with the WHO quality standards. The analyses revealed that the quality of water supply is inadequate. For instance, temperature in all the sampled sites ranged from 27.1°C - 29.7°C which is above the WHO value of 26.6°C, while the pH values (5.79 - 6.81) were lower than the WHO value of 7 – 8.5, indicating mildly acidic. Similarly, electrical conductivity, total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, sulphate, nitrate, and chloride values were all below the WHO values. All the hypotheses were tested using analysis of variance. It was observed that significant variations exist between Ohafia and Umuahia, Ohafia and Aba, but no significant difference exists between Umuahia and Aba. Thus, the null hypothesis (H₀) was accepted in all, that “there are no significant variations in the physicochemical content as regards the sampling points in the zones. The study recommends amongst others that water should be boiled before use, or through the use of alum, water guard, or through disinfection with the use of chlorine.

groundwater, quality, Abia State