Quality assessment of some wells for domestic and irrigation activities [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Groundwaters from open wells were investigated to ascertain the current quality status and suitability for irrigation and domestic activities at LAUTECH, Ogbomoso in south-west of Nigeria. The water samples were collected from three wells for physicochemical, biological and microbiological properties and labeled W1, W2 and W3. Three soil samples each from the target wells were also taken using a soil auger from a depth of about 0-30 cm. Each sample was placed in a black cellophane paper labeled S1, S2 and S3 respectively. These were taken to the laboratory for analysis.The water sample of well 2 was slightly basic with pH value of 7.3 and water samples of well 1; well 3 were slightly acidic with pH of 6.9 and 6.7 (which means the two samples are very near to neutral, 7.0). In terms of salinity hazards measured as electrical conductivity (EC) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), the water samples had very low salinity (EC for well 1 as 400 µScm-1, well 2, 380 µScm-1 and well 3, 405 µcm-1, TDS for well 1 was 200 mg/l, well 2, 220mg/l and well 3, 150mg/l). With respect to sodicity hazards, the sodium absorption ration (SAR) values obtained for the three samples were 3.46 for well 1, 4.57 for well 2 and 6.53 for well 3. This indicates a low risk of sodium build up in the soils. However, irrigation water of very low salinity (<200 µScm-1) and low GAR can lead to problems of water infiltration into the soils . The nitrate concentration in the samples was quite low with values of 0.07 mg/l for well 1; 0.11 mg/l for well 2 and 0.03 mg/l for well 3, possibly because of no application of nitrogen fertilizers in the farm site near the wells.