Assessment of Groundwater Quality for Domestic and Irrigation Purposes in an Arid Zone of North Eastern Nigeria

Assessment of groundwater quality and its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes was carried out in Karasuwa in the Chad Basin formation of North Eastern Nigeria. Ground water is the major source of water for domestic and irrigation activities in the study area. The ground water sample was sampled f m 17 boreholes, 2 hand dug well and a stream during rainy season and dry season of 2016 and 2017 respectively, the water sample were analysed using the atomic absorption, flame emission, colorimetric and titrimetric methods for its physical and chemical characteristics and also its suitability for domestic and irrigation activities base on salinity hazard, sodium percentage, sodium adsorption ratio residual Sodium Carbonate US salinity diagram, Wilcox diagram kenys ratio and ermeability index Ca-HCO3 Ca-Mg-Cl and Na-Cl were the dominant groundwater types and electrical conductivity in the area with no hardness make the groundwater suitable for drinking and agricultural uses. Concentration of Major cation (Na+ K+ and Mg2++) Major anions(NO3,Po4) and heavy Matel ( Cd and Ni) did not exceed the permissible limit for drinking and irrigation uses except Pb which is above WHO 1996 standard of 0.002mg/l in almost all sample collected from both stream and groundwater samples but almost all physio chemical parameters were within permissible limit and are therefore suitable for domestic and agricultural purposes.