AN UPDATE ON THE QUALITY OF WATER IN SAMARU STREAM, ZARIA, NIGERIA.

Garba, M.L.*, Yusuf Y.O., Arabi, A.S., Musa, S.K. and Schoeneich, K.

An assessment of the level and type of pollutants flowing through the Samaru stream en route the Kubanni reservoir was undertaken. Ten water samples were collected along the stream starting from upstream (a point where effluents discharged from Samaru village empty into the stream) up to its confluence with the reservoir. Water samples were collected into 120 ml polythene containers after filtration using a 0.45 μm Millipore paper. Two sets of samples were collected from each sampling point, one for anion and the other for the cation and other trace elements analysis. Samples for the cations were treated in-situ with acid before preservation in a cooler pending analysis. Results obtained showed the conductivity of all samples except two, to be below 1000mg/l, Pb value ranged between 0.02 - 2.57, Cd between 0.05 – 1.57 and Hg, below detection limit of the instrument used (1.03mg/l). Other parameters measured include pH, TDS, Ca, Mg. K, Cu, Zn Fe, HCO3, CO3, Cl and NO3, all fall within the WHO (2011) and NIS (2007) permissible limit for drinking and other domestic uses.

Key words: Effluents, Pollutants, Reservoir, Samaru stream.