PHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF HEAVY METALS AROUND KEFFI AND IT'S ENVIRONS

Physicochemical analysis of 15 samples (5 Well water, 5 Soils and 5 Stream sediments) were carried out to determine the distribution of heavy metals namely; Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Fe, As, Mo, Ni, Cr and Be in Keffi situated about 50km South of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Analytical results show the average (mean) concentrations of the metals in the three media; In well water samples; Zn (0.9945 Mg/L), Mo (0.0420 Mg/L), Cd (0.0074 Mg/L), As (0.3886 Mg/L), Cu (0.442 Mg/L), Fe (9.5136 Mg/L), Ni (0.0140 Mg/L), Cr ( 0.0190 Mg/L) and Be (0.1307 Mg/L). In Soil Samples; Zn (0.0237 Mg/L), Mo (1.6035Mg/L), Cd (0.0291 Mg/L), Pb (0.2878Mg/L), As (1.7518Mg/L), Cu (0.6120 Mg/L), Fe (14.5835 Mg/L), Ni (8.6890 Mg/L), Cr (6.9980 Mg/L) and Be (4.8107Mg/L). In Stream sediments; Cu ( 0.4672Mg/L), Fe (0.6782 Mg/L), Pb (0.2116 Mg/L),As (1.0242 Mg/L), Zn (0.0597 Mg/L), Mo (0.0794 Mg/L), Ni (0.9733 Mg/L), Cr (2.0821 Mg/L) and Be (2.5700 Mg/L). The physical property of the water samples range as follows; color (colorless – brownish),Turbidity < 4 - 45 NTU, Electrical conductivity 0.014-0.1261 ms/cm, TDS 120-210 mg/l and _P^H 6.5 - 8.5. The result of the study indicated that the concentration of As, Be, Cd and Fe in Well water samples are higher than both the World Health Organization (WHO, 2008) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON, 2009) permissible Limits (Drinking Water) and only Be concentration in stream sediment is higher than the Normal Concentration of Rose, (1979), other metals have concentration values lower than their various standard values of their respective sample media.