International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis

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Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria

Received: Dec. 28, 2015    Accepted: Jan. 05, 2016    Published: Jan. 15, 2016
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Abstract

Water is necessity to human and other life, human uses water for drinking, agricultural activities, domestic activities and so on. Therefore, it become necessary to study the level of radiation in our drinking water, because it poses many biological risks to human and other life when exceeded the maximum contamination level. This study examined the level of radioactivity of drinking water collected from local hand-dug wells and boreholes in Dutse town of Jigawa State. A total of 24 samples were collected and analyzed using MPC-2000, a Low Background alpha and beta counter. The equipment is a gasless proportional counter with ultra-thin window. The results showed that the alpha activity ranges from 0.006 to 0.485 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.060 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 0.003 to 1.08 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.094 Bq/l for well water samples and that of beta activity ranges from 0.009 to 84.68 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 5.288 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 6.830 to 6284.50 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 29.70 Bq/l for well water samples. Most of the sampling areas were above the maximum recommended level set by World Health Organization (WHO) of 0.5 Bq/l for alpha and 1.0 Bq/l for beta and United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) of 0.55 Bq/l for alpha and 1.85 Bq/l for beta activity. An attempt has been done to examine the correlation between the alpha and beta activity and a very poor correlation was obtained. It was further observed that well water samples recorded higher activity compared to borehole water samples. The lower activity in the borehole water samples may be due to the absorption of the activity in the pipes unlike the well water samples that was drawn directly from it source. The overall results showed that many of the sampling areas are not suitable for drinking, agriculture and other domestic activities. It is therefore, recommended that more studies should be carried out to ensure the safety of the general public in these locations.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12
Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis ( Volume 4, Issue 1, February 2016 )
Page(s) 6-11
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gross Alpha, Gross Beta, Radioactivity, Boreholes, Wells, Dutse Town

References
[1] R. A. Onoja, "Survey of Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity in well water from Zaria area," ABU Zaria, Zaria, 2004.
[2] A. Shittu, M. L. Madugu and S. T. Lawan, "Measurement of Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity in selected Local Water Boreholes in Northern Nigeria, Gombe State," Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics, vol. 25(2), pp. 243-248, 2013.
[3] E. W. Mangset, L. D. Christopher, A. O. Solomon, E. E. Ike, S. P. Mallam and R. A. Onoja, "Gross Alpha and Beta Radio Activity Concentrations and Estimated Committed Effective dose to the General Public Due to Intake of Groundwater in Mining Areas of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria," Advances in Physics Theories and Applications, vol. 38, 2014.
[4] T. C. Akpa, S. P. Mallam, I. G. Ibeanu and R. A. Onoja, "Characteristics of Gross Alpha/Beta Proportional Counter," Nigerian of Journal of Physics, vol. 16(1), pp. 13-18, 2004.
[5] P. D. Nicholas, Elementary Statistics, 2006.
[6] E. Yusuf, G. Iliyasu, U. A. Danbatta and A. Y. Maitama, "Effect of Gross Alpha and Beta in Groundwater Intake and Estimation of Groundwater Table in Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil," American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS), vol. 14(1), pp. 46-54, 2015.
[7] A. Saidu and E. E. Ike, "Survey of Gross Alpha Radioactivity in Bore Hole and Well Water in Sokoto City North-Western Nigeria," Nigerian Journal of Basic and Applied Science, vol. 20(3), pp. 20-26, 2013.
[8] R. K. Meindinyo and E. O. Agbalagba, "Radioactivity concentration and heavy metal assessment of soil and water, in and around Imirigin oil field, Bayelsa state, Nigeria," Journal of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, vol. 4(2), pp. 29-34, 2012.
[9] S. Turhan, E. Ozc¸ıtak, H. Taskın and A. Varinlioglu, "Determination of natural radioactivity by gross alpha and beta measurements in ground water samples," Elsevier, vol. 47, pp. 3 1 0 3 -3 1 0 8, 2013.
[10] X.-X. Miao, Y.-Q. Ji, X.-Z. Shao, H. Wang, Q.-F. Sun and X. Su, "Radioactivity of Drinking-Water in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants in China Based on a Large-Scale Monitoring Study," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 10, pp. 6863-6872, 2013.
[11] M. L. Garba, A. S. Arabi and D. J. Adeyemo, "Assessment of Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity in Groundwater by Liquid Scintillation," Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences, vol. 3(7), pp. 1-5, 2013.
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    Shittu Abdullahi, Chifu E. Ndikilar, Abdussalam B. Suleiman, Hafeez Y. Hafeez. (2016). Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 4(1), 6-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12

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    ACS Style

    Shittu Abdullahi; Chifu E. Ndikilar; Abdussalam B. Suleiman; Hafeez Y. Hafeez. Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2016, 4(1), 6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12

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    AMA Style

    Shittu Abdullahi, Chifu E. Ndikilar, Abdussalam B. Suleiman, Hafeez Y. Hafeez. Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2016;4(1):6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12,
      author = {Shittu Abdullahi and Chifu E. Ndikilar and Abdussalam B. Suleiman and Hafeez Y. Hafeez},
      title = {Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {6-11},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20160401.12},
      abstract = {Water is necessity to human and other life, human uses water for drinking, agricultural activities, domestic activities and so on. Therefore, it become necessary to study the level of radiation in our drinking water, because it poses many biological risks to human and other life when exceeded the maximum contamination level. This study examined the level of radioactivity of drinking water collected from local hand-dug wells and boreholes in Dutse town of Jigawa State. A total of 24 samples were collected and analyzed using MPC-2000, a Low Background alpha and beta counter. The equipment is a gasless proportional counter with ultra-thin window. The results showed that the alpha activity ranges from 0.006 to 0.485 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.060 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 0.003 to 1.08 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.094 Bq/l for well water samples and that of beta activity ranges from 0.009 to 84.68 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 5.288 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 6.830 to 6284.50 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 29.70 Bq/l for well water samples. Most of the sampling areas were above the maximum recommended level set by World Health Organization (WHO) of 0.5 Bq/l for alpha and 1.0 Bq/l for beta and United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) of 0.55 Bq/l for alpha and 1.85 Bq/l for beta activity. An attempt has been done to examine the correlation between the alpha and beta activity and a very poor correlation was obtained. It was further observed that well water samples recorded higher activity compared to borehole water samples. The lower activity in the borehole water samples may be due to the absorption of the activity in the pipes unlike the well water samples that was drawn directly from it source. The overall results showed that many of the sampling areas are not suitable for drinking, agriculture and other domestic activities. It is therefore, recommended that more studies should be carried out to ensure the safety of the general public in these locations.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration in Drinking Water Collected from Local Wells and Boreholes of Dutse Town, North West, Nigeria
    AU  - Shittu Abdullahi
    AU  - Chifu E. Ndikilar
    AU  - Abdussalam B. Suleiman
    AU  - Hafeez Y. Hafeez
    Y1  - 2016/01/15
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    SP  - 6
    EP  - 11
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20160401.12
    AB  - Water is necessity to human and other life, human uses water for drinking, agricultural activities, domestic activities and so on. Therefore, it become necessary to study the level of radiation in our drinking water, because it poses many biological risks to human and other life when exceeded the maximum contamination level. This study examined the level of radioactivity of drinking water collected from local hand-dug wells and boreholes in Dutse town of Jigawa State. A total of 24 samples were collected and analyzed using MPC-2000, a Low Background alpha and beta counter. The equipment is a gasless proportional counter with ultra-thin window. The results showed that the alpha activity ranges from 0.006 to 0.485 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.060 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 0.003 to 1.08 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 0.094 Bq/l for well water samples and that of beta activity ranges from 0.009 to 84.68 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 5.288 Bq/l for borehole water samples and 6.830 to 6284.50 Bq/l with a geometric mean of 29.70 Bq/l for well water samples. Most of the sampling areas were above the maximum recommended level set by World Health Organization (WHO) of 0.5 Bq/l for alpha and 1.0 Bq/l for beta and United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) of 0.55 Bq/l for alpha and 1.85 Bq/l for beta activity. An attempt has been done to examine the correlation between the alpha and beta activity and a very poor correlation was obtained. It was further observed that well water samples recorded higher activity compared to borehole water samples. The lower activity in the borehole water samples may be due to the absorption of the activity in the pipes unlike the well water samples that was drawn directly from it source. The overall results showed that many of the sampling areas are not suitable for drinking, agriculture and other domestic activities. It is therefore, recommended that more studies should be carried out to ensure the safety of the general public in these locations.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Physics, Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria

  • Department of Physics, Federal University Dutse, Dutse, Nigeria

  • Department of Physics, Federal University Dutse, Dutse, Nigeria

  • Department of Physics, Federal University Dutse, Dutse, Nigeria

  • Section