Seasonal Variation Of The Surface Water Quality Of Two Dams In Plateau State, North Central Nigeria

Surface water is very vulnerable to pollution due to its ease of accessibility to human and animals, runoff from farmlands and other anthropogenic contaminations. It is one thing to have water within one's reach, and another to have it potable for use. This paper reports the seasonal variation and implication of the quality status of two surface dams located in some water-stressed communities of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. Water quality assessments were carried out for a period of six seasons (August 2009-April 2012) using standard analytical methods. Seasonal variation of the water quality showed increasing and decreasing metal ion concentration in the dry and wet seasons, respectively, except for copper, which had a reverse trend. Seasonal values showed that most of the metals had values above their respective WHO standards for drinking water. Our research group is embarking on cost-effective purification methods towards alleviating the situation, as well as rain water harvesting initiatives.