Focusing on the Quality of Potable Water Available to the Residents of Anambra State, Nigeria

Public pipe-borne water system had collapsed in Anambra state of Nigeria, for over fifteen years,
challenging the residents of the state to resort to alternative sources of potable water, notably,
boreholes. In this work, two boreholes each in nineteen communities, one from Aguluzigbo, in three
local government areas (Anaocha, Awka-North, Awka-South) in the state were sampled, and tested
for pH, Conductivity, Hardness, Total Suspended Solids, Lead, Arsenic, Cadmium, Bacteria and
Yeast loads. The water samples were all soft and mostly acidic. The Lead, Arsenic and Cadmium
concentrations were above the tolerable limits in most communities in Anaocha and Awka-South.
Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium were absent in all the samples in Awka-North except in four communities
where Cadmium was present. Suspended solid contents were also high in all the Local Government
Areas. Overall, the quality of the water consumed by the people in the selected population calls to
question of the water and sanitation component of the public health system.