Comparative study of household water treatment in a rural community in Kwara state, Nigeria

This research presents the household treatment of drinking water samples in a rural community in Nigeria by boiling and water guard. The physicochemical parameters of the raw water samples with exception of chloride, BOD and dissolved oxygen were within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON). The mean BOD value of the public tap water samples (5.3 mg L-1) was lower that of the bore-hole water samples (9.1 mg L-1). The major anions determined were within permissible limits With exception of Zinc (Zn) and Iron (Fe) the other metals investigated were either not detected or had their concentrations below maximum permissible limits. There was no significant difference (p-1 for the water `coliform bacteria but after treatment by boiling and water guard, it was observed that the coliform count was reduced to zero with boiling but remained as 1cfu 100mL-1 with water guard. Bacillus and Mucor species isolated from the water samples of public taps were removed by boiling and water guard treatments.Keywords: Water quality, Water treatment Coliform bacteria, Metals