Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the well waters, their sanitary features, prevailing pollutions and water qualities in some communities in the South- east Local Government Area of Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. A random selection of houses in the area with forty shallow hand dug wells grouped into eight zones was considered. Structured questionnaires and oral interviews were used to gather information and data apart from physical inspection. Sanitary features of the well considered were lining, apron, cover and water drawing buckets. Well water sampling and quality tests were done during the dry season and parameters such as total solids, suspended solids, total hardness and coli form count were determined, using various laboratory methods. Findings showed that most of the wells are grossly polluted by unsanitary practices such as unsanitary maintenance of wells and their features, proximity to potential pollution sources such as pit latrines, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and poor sanitation. These communities are therefore prone to health risks, because of their dependence on these sources, thus there is need for improvement and in some cases reconstruction of the wells and well waters treatment.

Key words: Well waters, features, pollution, Ibadan slum.