An Evaluative Study on Metallic Concentration in Different Ground and Industrial Water Sources in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria

Aim: The present study investigated the concentrations and human health risk of certain metallic elements like cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and copper (Cu) in ground water, wells, mining ponds and industrial effluent in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria.

Study Design: The work is descriptive.

Place and Duration of Studies: Department of Biochemistry, University of Jos: October 2020-December 2020.

Methodology: Water samples were obtained from our study areas and carefully filtered using Whatman filter paper into a 250ml conical flask to obtain a clear filtrate. The pH of the filtrate was determined using pH meter 3510. Heavy metal determination was done by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) after digestion of water samples with 5% nitric acid (HNO3).

Results: Results obtained indicated that mining ponds, ground water, industrial effluents as well as factory-based sachet water, all contained Pb(1.320 to 1.440 mg/l),Cr(-0.0046 to 0.318 mg/l), Cd(1.320 to 1.440 mg/l), Zn(-0.0.106 to 0.5327 mg/l), Cu(0.4359 to 0.7838 mg/l), Mg(5.789 to 22.830 mg/l), Ca(15.241 to 19.706 mg/l) at a concentration that is significantly (P= 0.05) higher compared to the WHO allowable concentrations for drinking water which could be attributed to inadequate scientific method used in the processing of water and also chemical materials used for bagging and bottling the water for market supply.

Conclusion: Metallic contaminants are inevitable components of water from our study area and packaging materials for supply of bottle water are themselves a major risk factor and alternative source of metallic contaminant leaching into factory based sachet water.