A systematic literature analysis of the nature and regional distribution of water pollution sources in Nigeria

Water quality monitoring and assessment helps to determine the purity of water and how safe it is for use. This also guides environmental engineers in identifying the pollution sources and developing appropriate strategies in mitigating them. The aim of this study was to systematically analyse published literature to identify the interaction of the nature and regional distribution of pollution sources in Nigeria in the domain of surface water, groundwater, and rainwater quality. The scope of the analysis was on published literature on the subject in the last two decades. Regional distribution was observed to affect pollution sources for surface water, groundwater and rainwater in Nigeria as differences were observed in each geopolitical zone. Several research questions were raised which became the focus of the literature analysis. The major sources of surface water, groundwater and rainwater pollution in Nigeria were identified as industrial effluent (18% of research output), hydrogeology (25% of research output), and roof type (31%) respectively. Some 13% of surface water sources, 17% of groundwater sources and 8% of rainwater sources were adjudged to be clean based on World Health Organisation guidelines. The onus still falls on government related stakeholders, policy makers and industry based decision makers to instigate, develop and actualise sustainable waste management and water treatment approaches in the mitigation of water pollution in the country. The current study provides key information that could influence such decisions especially in view of the choice of process type for cleaner production that would cater for the specific needs of the various geopolitical zones. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Water quality monitoring and assessment help determine the purity and safety of water, guiding environmental engineers in identifying pollution sources and developing strategies to mitigate them. This study systematically analyzed the nature and regional distribution of pollution sources in Nigeria's surface water, groundwater, and rainwater quality, revealing that regional distribution affects pollution sources in different geopolitical zones.