**1. Introduction**

Water is essential to maintain and sustain human life, animals and plants [1], this is because it constitutes to a large extent, the major solvent in which many of the body's proteins and other substances are dissolved. It enables many metabolic activities of the body to take place [2]. Water is essential for growing food, for domestic uses and as a critical factor in industries, tourism and cultural purpose as it helps in sustaining the earth's ecosystem. According to Ajibade et al., [3] 90% of the population in Nigeria depends largely on hand dug wells and boreholes [4]. Rapid growth in urban populations, industrial activities, commercial and agricultural developments result in an increase in the search for potable water. The preference of groundwater as a source of drinking water in rural areas is because of its relatively better quality than that of river water [5]. Historically, the point of rural settlement was being determined by water source such as stream, river and spring [6]. The inhabitants of rural settlements relied on groundwater often within a few meters of the surface which they exploited by digging wells. Access to safe drinking water is a basic human need and a fundamental human right that is crucial for poverty reduction [7].

According to a report [8] this situation forces people to consume untreated water from rivers and ponds and represents a high risk to their health [9].

Kaduna State was famous for its traditional indigo dyeing pits, during the Trans Sahara trade in Northern part of the country. Local industries like the dyeing industry, proved vital to Nigeria's socio-economic development, apart from providing employment to a good number of people; it serves as source of tourist attraction. These local industries used a local technology of dyeing and discharge of waste. Ideally citing industries should strike a balance between socio- economic and environmental considerations. This was not the case with local dyeing industries in Zaria; which were mostly located within the city walls and surrounded by settlements. The mode of disposal was usually in pits dug for that purpose. Previous studies, when the dyeing activities were functional, have shown contamination of ground water in close proximity to the dye wastes well in Zaria [10]. The findings show environment-related ailments ranging from skin and eye problems to cancerous tumours and methaemoglobinaemia in children which were attributed to the disposal of dye wastes in these areas. Even though most of these dyeing pits have long been abandoned, their impacts on the settlements around them are still persisting.
