The unreliable water supply in Calabar South by the Water Company has forced private individuals to drill
boreholes and hand dug wells for private and commercial purposes. Some individuals, whose financial status is
low, resort to constructing hand dug wells which serves as a source of water supply to them, hence the need to
ascertain the wholesomeness status of this source of water supply. Two boreholes and two hand dug wells
within the study area were randomly selected for the study. Samples were taken from the hand dug wells and
boreholes. The samples were analyzed based on the standard methods of analysis. The research revealed that
the total coliform count of the boreholes satisfied the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended
standard, while the total coliform count of hand dug wells did not satisfy the WHO standard. The turbidity,
dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids and nitrate satisfied the WHO standard for
both boreholes and hand dug wells respectively. However, the results for pH, ranging from 4.95 to 5.30 for both
hand dug wells and boreholes indicated a measure of acidity, therefore requiring treatment in order to be
potable.