Quality Assessment of Water of Ajali Sandstone Aquifer Systems for Possible Industrial Establishments

Author(s): Nwatarali N. Alex

Physico-chemical analyses of water samples from Ajali Sandstone aquifer units were carried out in order to assess the suitability of the water for various industrial purposes, determine seasonal effects on the water quality and quality distribution pattern within the study area. The study area covers an area extent of about 2,156 km2. Techniques of American Public Health Association, and Trivedy and Goel were mainly employed in the analyses. The concentrations of major Physico-chemical parameters and properties of the water analyzed include those that are related to the selected industries considered in this study. Other parameters and properties are those that may affect very few of these industries. The results obtained from the study indicated that the quality of the water remained nearly constant throughout the seasons except for total hardness concentrations which were slightly higher during dry seasons while pH, sulphate, electrical conductance and total dissolved solids concentrations were slightly lower during dry season. Distributional variation in water was very insignificant that it cannot affect the usefulness or suitability of the water for various industrial standards. The results also revealed that the changes in the water quality distribution patterns were not in systematic manner. Only the taste, odour, and fluoride as major parameters met the standards for various industries where they were considered. For other major parameters, the water requires some degree of treatments to bring the water to required standard limits but the extent of treatment depends on the parameter and industry concerned. Generally, the water is fresh, soft to moderately hard, slightly acidic and may not pose adverse health hazard to users. Corrosive risk is moderate and the chances of incrustation of distribution system are narrow. The water has no significant aesthetic problem. Water of Ajali Sandstone aquifer units needs little or no treatment before use for air condition, boiler feeds, drinking, general food processing, and ice manufacturing industries. For other industries the water requires some degree of treatments before use as chemical or industrial processing water.

Groundwater, Ajali, Quality, Assessment, Parameters, Industry, Establishment

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