Water Quality Assessment of Ugwueme Surface and Ground Water System

The assessment is aimed at the determination of the water chemistry of groundwater and surface water in Ugwueme and to characterize the elemental values in order to deduce the source, the similarities and differences of the two water systems. The analytical study involved the sampling of both surface and groundwater bodies in order to conduct a comparative and qualitative study of the hydrogeochemistry of the area. Groundwater samples were obtained from Isiovu spring, Ogwumba spring, Iyiahia spring and Iyiokuka spring. Also surface waters were sampled from Obae stream and Iyiohimiri stream and analyzed for mineral species. The result ranges thus SO42- = 0.00 to 19.6, HCO3- = 10.21 to 24.88, NO3- = 2.9 to 4.6, Cl- = 40.8 to 109.6, PO43- =1.2 to 3.4, Na+ = 0.88 to 1.62, Mg2+ = 0.32 to 1.45, Ca2+ = 1.02 to 3.32, Fe3+ = 0.30 to 1.62, and Mn+ = 0.0028 to 0.052. This result is in the form of Clgreater thanHCO3-greater thanNO3-greater thanPO43-greater thanSO42- for the anions and Ca2+greater thanNa+greater thanMg2+greater thanFe3+greater thanMn+ for the cations with few exceptions. The geochemical assessment of the spring and stream samples using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for the Cations and Volumetric Analysis for the anions indicates a Ca-Na-Cl water type, which is typical of marine and deep groundwater sources. The systematic source rock deduction indicates that the relatively high chloride concentration observed in all the water samples might have come from possible brine water and the tar sand of the Owelli Sandstone. Comparative study of ion content of these water samples with already established standards for Drinking Water Quality revealed that both the groundwater and surface water of Ugwueme are safe for drinking.