Suitability of Surface and Groundwater for Pisciculture in Maiduguri Metropolis, North-East Nigeria

Background and Objective: Water is the basis for fish farming and understanding its physical and chemical qualities is critical to successful and profitable aquaculture. Hence, the physic-chemical and heavy metal contents of surface and groundwater sources in Maiduguri Metropolis, Nigeria were assessed for pisciculture. Materials and Methods: Water samples from treated surface water (TSW), Fori River (FRW), gwonge sabolahi wash borehole (GWB) and gwonge sabolahi deep borehole (GDB) were collected and analyzed for selected physic-chemical and heavy metal parameters following standard procedure. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α = 0.05. Results: All the physic-chemical parameters examined from all the water sources were within the desirable limit, except dissolved oxygen in GDB (3.76±0.39 mg L‾¹) and GWB (4.45±0.21 mg L‾¹). Meanwhile, most of the water sources investigated were contaminated with lead, cadmium and iron. Conclusion: The investigated water sources are not safe for pisciculture in terms of heavy metal proliferation, except if there is proper treatment.