The study was conducted to assess the quality of drinking water from three major sources (i.e. treated tap water, borehole water and hand pump water) in order to find out whether or not water quality parameters selected for the study are within the recommended FME (1997) water quality standard. The selected parameters were temperature, PH, taste, colour, odour, turbidity, total suspended solids, hardness, COD, BOD, colony count, coliforms and E-coli. Six sampling points were purposively

more »

... , two points for the treated tap water, two points for boreholes and two points for hand pump. Samples were collected and analyzed for the selected parameters during rainy season. The results obtained from field and laboratory analysis were presented and discussed and comparisons were made between the results and water quality standard set by FME (1997).The data obtained at the time of the study and its comparison with water quality standard revealed that, most of the water sources in the town are safe for human consumption. However, there were slight exhibits of turbidity in samples 1 (water treatment plant), 2 (Injin kuka), 4 (Unguwar kudu hand pump) and 6(Sokoto Rima) suspended solids in tap water and BOD and colony count in all the samples. Coliform was only detected in sample 3 (Low cost hand pump).It was concluded that, occurrences of water related diseases in the town were not totally connected to poor water quality but also to poor sanitation and poor method of collection and preservation of water. One of the recommendations offered is the need for public health education/awareness through which people get acquainted with water related diseases, their health implications and how to overcome them.