Physico – Chemical Evaluation of Water from Different Sources Commonly Consumed in Enugu Metropolis Southeast Nigeria

ABSTRACT Evaluation of physico-chemical substances in different water commonly used in Enugu metropolis were carried out between December, 2011 and November, 2012 to ascertain their respective concentrations. The work which is a survey study, would help to reveal the level of contamination if any, and to authenticate, if the water samples are safe for drinking purposes. The water samples consisted of bottled water, satchet water, tap water and well water. The pH, lead, zinc, copper and nitrate were estimated for, in the above water samples using standard analytical procedures. WHO standard recommended limit, was used to evaluate their quality. The mean pH of bottled, satchet, tap and well water samples were: 6.98±0.34, 6.97±0.20, 7.0±0.14 and 5.83±0.91 respectively. There was statistically significant difference (P< 0.05) in mean among all water samples. The result however showed no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) among the mean value of bottled, satchet and tap water samples. It is also noted that among all the water samples, only the pH of well water, showed the value below the WHO recommended value. Zinc mean value in ppm for the water samples were 0.008±0.01, 0.013±0.02, 0.076±0.14 and 0.184±0.03 respectively. This showed statistically significant difference (P