Malum Japhet Flayin, Onoja Samuel Baba, Udochukwu Martins Okechukwu
Most children in Kaltungo town grow up with mottle (stain) teeth, thought to be caused by chemical characteristics of the town’s sources of drinking water. This study carried out an assessment of physico-chemical properties of groundwater from selected hand dug wells and boreholes in Kaltungo town from same geological formation for 12 months. Physical parameters of Odour, Colour, Taste, Temperature, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), and Chemical parameters of pH, Cl, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, F, Cd, NO3-, Total hardness (TH), Total alkalinity (TA) and Conductivity were tested. Standard statistical analysis was used to analyze the data and compare with World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water. All Physical parameters were within the acceptable limits, except temperature which had a mean value of 29.7 °C, which is higher than WHO (2006) guide line limit of 25 °C, but acceptable by NIS, SON and NAFDAC(2007) limits. Almost all the chemical parameters were below the recommended maximum. Mean value of fluoride concentration from hand dug wells was 1.81 mg/l and boreholes, 1.59 mg/l. Both are above the recommended maximum value of 1.5 mg/l. Mean concentrations of fluoride obtained in wells compared with those from boreholes indicated fluoride concentrations were much higher in wells than in bore holes. High fluoride concentration in the ground waters of Kaltungo town is responsible for teeth mottling among the people. Central water treatment plant is recommended to reduce high fluoride content before pumping the water for public consumption. The paired sample T-Test of the difference between the mean values of water physical parameters from hand dug wells and bore holes at P = 0.05 shows that there was no significant difference between the mean temperature values, mean total dissolved solid values and ambient temperature values but there was significant difference between the mean turbidity values at P = 0.05. While the paired sample T-Test of the difference between the mean values of water chemical parameters from hand dug wells and bore holes at P = 0.05 shows that there was significant difference between the mean Cl -, Fe, Cu, Zn, F -, NO3 -, TH and TA values but there was no significant difference between the mean pH and Cond., values at P = 0.05.
Groundwater quality, Fluoride, Prevalence, Mottle teeth, Kaltungo, Gombe.