Abstract
One of the most indispensable resources in the world is water for both animal and plant lives existence. The aim of this research is to ascertain the qualities of water samples collected from nine auto-mechanic workshops located within Ilorin metropolitan areas, in Kwara State. The physiochemical parameters of these samples were analysed and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHC) were determined for any possible infiltration of engine oils and other petro-chemical products from these randomly selected workshops into the nearby open wells, using standard methods for the analysis. The physiochemical values of the these samples for South auto-mechanic workshops (SAMW), East auto-mechanic workshops (EAMW) and West auto-mechanic workshops (WAMW) were as follows: for SAMW; pH (6.01 to 6.02), colour (1.01 to 12.20pt-Co), electrical conductivity (EC) (387 to 475?¬S/cm), turbidity (1.21 to 6.23NTU), total dissolved solids (TDS) (1280 to 1710mg/l), total hardness (TH)(210 to 400mg/l), total iron (TI)(0.05 to 0.26mg/l), copper (Cu) (0.27 to 0.46mgl), manganese (Mn) (0.04 to 0.16mg/l), nitrate (19.52 to 23.40mg/l), Chloride (15 to 40mg/l), (TPHC) (0.001 to 0.012mg/l), chemical oxygen demand (COD)(8.15 to 17.06mg/l), biological oxygen demand (BOD) (10.81 to 14.00mg/l), and for EAMW; (6.71 to 6.87), (0.01 to 0.32pt-Co), (424 to 848 ?¬S/cm), (0.82 to 2.64NTU), (1292 to 1378mg/l), (210 to 410mg/l), (0.10 to 0.79mg/l), (0.27 to 0.71mg/l), (0.13 to 0.28mg/l), (17.40 to 23.81mg/l), (20 to 45mg/l), (0.001 to 0.007mg/l), (8.26 to 13.61mg/l), (8.48 to 14.11mg/l), respectively. Finally for WAMW; (6.57 to 6.71), (0.41 to 3.11pt-Co), (348 to 549 ?¬S/cm), (0.24 to 4.11NTU), (1239 to 1378mg/l), (210 to 250mg/l), (0.10 to 0.79mg/l), (0.11 to 0.50mg/l), (0.18 to 0.28mg/l), (17.47 to 22.01mg/l), (10 to 25mg/l), (0.003 to 0.012mg/l), (8.15 to 14.21mg/l), (11.22 to 12.42mg/l), respectively. ANOVA results show that the coefficient of determination for each physiochemical characteristics considered revealed that the Area and Location factors accounted for 51.17%, 62.75% and 38.51%, for BOD, COD and TPHC, respectively, for the wells.
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