Hadrochemical Analysis of Groundwater Resources in Izhia, Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Implications for Drinking Water Quality and Public Health

Elebe; John Igboke

doi:10.56201/ijemt.vol.12.no7.2026.pg459.471

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Hadrochemical Analysis of Groundwater Resources in Izhia, Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Implications for Drinking Water Quality and Public Health

Elebe, John Igboke

Abstract

Groundwater constitutes the primary source of potable water for rural and peri-urban communities in southeastern Nigeria, where inadequate pipe-borne water infrastructure places millions of people in direct dependence on boreholes and hand-dug wells whose chemistry is rarely systematically characterized. This study investigates the hydrochemical composition of groundwater resources in Izhia, Ebonyi State, with the specific objectives of assessing the physicochemical quality of the groundwater for domestic suitability and evaluating the relationship between key hydrochemical parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids) and groundwater potability. Eighteen (18) groundwater samples comprising 12 borehole and 6 hand-dug well samples were collected across Izhia at the peak of the dry season (January 2026) and analyzed using standard APHA procedures for physicochemical and heavy metal parameters. Results show that pH ranged from 5.41 to 7.38 (mean = 6.27 ± 0.58), electrical conductivity ranged from 48 to 917 μS/cm (mean = 312.4 ± 211.3 μS/cm), TDS ranged from 24 to 458 mg/L (mean = 156.2 ± 105.7 mg/L), iron (Fe) ranged from 0.04 to 1.74 mg/L, and nitrate (NO3−) ranged from 0.8 to 22.6 mg/L. Simple linear regression analysis revealed that electrical conductivity significantly predicts TDS (β = 0.971, R2 = 0.943, F(1,16) = 263.91, p < .001) and that pH significantly predicts iron concentration (β = −0.684, R2 = 0.468, F(1,16) = 14.07, p = .002). Sixty-seven percent of samples had pH below the WHO minimum of 6.5, and 28% exceeded WHO iron limits. Hydrochemical facies were dominated by Ca–Mg–HCO3 and Ca–Mg–Cl water types. The study recommends that Ebonyi State Government develop a groundwater quality monitoring framework for Izhia, that communities implement household-level water treatment protocols, and that future research apply Water Quality Index modelling with extended heavy metal profiling across all Izhia communities.

Keywords

hydrochemical analysisgroundwater qualityIzhiaEbonyi StateNigeriaphysicochemical parametersWHO standardsdrinking waterCa–Mg–HCO3regression analysis.

References

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Hadrochemical Analysis of Groundwater Resources in Izhia, Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Implications for Drinking Water Quality and Public Health

Abstract

Keywords

References

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