Comparative Analysis of Water Quality of Water Stored in Concrete, Steel and Plastic Storage Facilities

In Nigeria it has been a common practice to construct water storage tanks with steel, plastic and concrete materials. With this scenario, there has been unpalpable concern and worry due to the uncertainty of the effects of these storage materials on the quality of the water in them. The study investigated the effects of steel, plastic and concrete storage tanks have on quality of water stored in them. The analytical method was used in this assessment of samples by analyzing the water samples collected before storage and the water stored in the three different storage facilities for seven days. The results were compared with World Health Organisation standards. The pH of the water samples before storage was 4.66 and after storage, it was 4.91, 6.87 and 4.84 for plastic, concrete and steel containers respectively and these are still within WHO limits. Metal like iron (0.239mg/l) was detected in steel, manganese (0.122) in concrete storage facilities. The conductivity of water in the original water sample before storage was 39µS/cm while that in the three storage facilities were discovered to be 49µS/cm, 72µS/cm and 92µS/cm for plastic, concrete and steel storage tanks respectively after storage; thus proving that there are more dissolved metal ion in steel storage tank caused by corrosion and more dissolved minerals in concrete storage tanks than plastic storage tanks. The result of the research showed that the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of the stored water were within the acceptable limits of W.H.O. standards except the total heterotrophic bacteria which were detected in outrageous amounts in the water stored by the different tanks. This is the only parameter that was significantly affected by the type of storage facility and which renders the water unacceptable according to World Health Organization (WHO) Standard.