AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL METHODS OF WATER PURIFICATION IN A RURAL AREA IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF KUDAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE

The quest for potable water has been in existence for as long as man could distinguish odour, taste, cloudiness and colours in available water. This study investigates the efficacy of some traditional water treatment methods used in a rural community in Northern Nigeria. Water samples were obtained from the various water sources in the study area and also from the households after the different types of traditional treatments have been carried out on the water. Biophysiochemical parameters of water samples before and after the traditional treatment were analyzed. The results obtained showed that the Three pots (TP), filtration through clay vessels (FTCV) and long storage (LS) methods had 95.02%, 93.68% and 91.86% turbidity removals respectively and performed better than the other methods. Total dissolved solids had average removals of 52.9% and 53.6% by FTCV and LS methods while other methods were below average. Total suspended solids recorded 81.4% removal by FTCV while filtration through cloth FTC and solar disinfection SODIS had 72.3% removals each. In terms of bacterial count, FTC, boiling (BL) and SODIS were most effective with 66.3%, 63.7% and 63.8 % removals respectively while the LS method was least effective. The study concluded that no particular method was best in removing all the parameters studied and therefore proposed the use of a combination of two or more of these traditional methods for higher water purification efficiency in the study area.