An Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Using Water Quality Index in Ado-Ekiti and Environs, Nigeria

Aim: To assess the quality of drinking water sources in Ado-Ekiti and environs, Nigeria, using Water Quality Index (WQI).

Study Design: Experimental study design.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, Ekiti State University, Ekiti State, Nigeria, between January 2014 and August 2014.

Methodology: The Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WAWQI) method, which classified water quality according to the degree of purity, was adopted in this study. The WAWQI was determined on the basis of various physico-chemical parameters which included pH, total dissolved solids, turbidity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sulphate, chloride and nitrate. The parameters were determined using standard methods.

Results: The mean values of the physico-chemical parameters revealed that majority of the samples fell below the WHO maximum permissible limits while others were above WHO specifications. The calculated WAWQI revealed the water quality level of the different water sources as follows; 54.16, 65.12, 67.46, 56.29, 46.08 and 49.59 for borehole, stream, pipe-borne, well, spring and packaged water samples, respectively.

Conclusion: This result is an indication that the analyzed water samples from different sources were of poor water quality with the exception of spring and packaged water samples which are of good water quality in terms of physico-chemical qualities and thus safe for human consumption.