Hydrogeochemical assessment of groundwater quality: a case study of federal college of education (technical), Omoku, Rivers State

This study was carried out to assess the suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes by interpreting the hydrochemical species of groundwater samples. Six water samples were collected and assess to determine the concentration of some ions, pollution load index (PLI), contamination factor (CF), water quality index (WQI), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), magnesium hazard (MH), Kelly ratio (KR), and percentage sodium (%Na). The result revealed that most of the ions have concentration within the WHO permissible limit for drinking water except the biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and Fe2+ which exceeded WHO standard in some samples. The mean abundant of the cations is K+ > Na+ > Ca2+ > Fe2+ > Mg2+ > Mn2+, while that of the anions is Cl- > So(4)(2-) > HCO3-. The result reveals that K+ and Cl- the most abundance cation and anion respectively. CF reveals low concentration (< 1) of So(4)(2-), Cl- K+, Na2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+ and high concentration (> 1) of Fe2+. The values of PLI were very low indicating no pollution. The WQI reveals the samples with excellent (< 50) while those above 100 (> 100) were rated as poor. The SAR, MH, KR, and %Na reveal the groundwater status for irrigation based on the ratings of the indices.