COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF BOREHOLE WATER AND SACHET WATER

Three types of sachet water samples and three types of borehole water samples all from Owerri Municipal, Imo State were collected and analyzed for physicochemical parameters. A total of twenty (21) parameters including Odour, Colour, pH, Conductivity, Acidity, Alkalinity, Total Solids, Dissolved Solids, Suspended Solids, Dissolved Oxygen (D.O), Chemical Oxygen Demand (C.O.D), Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Lead, Chloride, Nitrate, Zinc, Magnesium and sulphate were analyzed. The W.H.O recommended standards shows that all the samples are odourless and colourless. Borehole water is 7.1 in pH, while sachet water has a lower value of 6.5. Acidity in sachet water has a mean value of 50mg/l while borehole water has 54mg/l. Total solids of borehole water is higher with a mean value of 15.6mg/l, while sachet water has 5.7mg/l. Alkalinity is higher in borehole water with a mean value of 165, while sachet water has a lower value of 113. Dissolved oxygen in borehole water has a higher value of 1.19mg/l than sachet water with a value of 0.83mg/l. C.O.D is trace in all the samples. Suspended solids in borehole water is 1.02mg/l which is higher than sachet water which has 0.62mg/l. Calcium is higher in borehole water with a value of 3.1mg/l, while sachet water has 1.92mg/l. Copper content is higher in borehole with a value of 1.42mg/l in borehole water, while sachet water has 0.49mg/l. Chloride is higher in sachet water with a value of 64.1mg/l and lower in borehole water 56.2mg/l. Manganese and Lead values of borehole water are 0.54mg/l and 0.77mg/l respectively, which are higher than W.H.O standard, while  sachet water has values of 0.28mg/l and 1.01mg/l. Iron value of borehole water is 1.20mg/l, while sachet water is lower with a value of 1.12mg/l. Nitrate is 0.39mg/l in borehole water which is lower than sachet water which has 0.41mg/l. Borehole water is lower in Zinc with a value of 0.41mg/l while sachet water has a higher value of 0.44mg/l. Borehole water has a phosphate value of 5.21mg/l while sachet water has a lower value of 4.02mg/l. Magnesium is higher in borehole water with a value 1.47mg/l, while sachet water has 0.93mg/l. The parameters analyzed most generally conform to the W.H.O standards for drinking water.                    

         Water is a universal solvent, which consist of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Chemically, it could be defined as a chemical substance with two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen in each of its molecules; hence the molecular formula is H2O. It is formed by the direct reaction of hydrogen with oxygen;

                  2H2 + O2                  2H2O