This review focuses on the quality of groundwater in boreholes and well water used as potable water in Sabongida area of Zamfara State, Nigeria. Groundwater, a crucial source of drinking water, is increasingly threatened by microbial contamination which degrades the quality index of the water. This research paper offers a thorough exploration of the sources and pathways through which pathogenic microbial organisms infiltrate groundwater, highlighting key risk factors such as land use, poor sanitation, and climate change. It assesses both traditional and innovative risk management strategies, with more insight on quantitative microbial risk assessment to gauge their effectiveness by simulating microbial behavior under different conditions and predicting the impact of intervention strategies on public health metrics. The review aligns with World Health Organization's (WHO) Guidelines concerning clean water and health, offering emphasis on how microbial contamination can be reduced to meet global targets. The presence of E. coli or thermo tolerant coliform provides strong evidence of recent faecal contamination and is used to estimate disease. The count for E. coli as a microbial water quality indicator should be zero per 100ml water for drinking purpose. Water below ground is mostly safe as long as they are appropriately built and run-in accordance with the recent World Health Organization's Guidelines for potable water, but can be contaminated during collection, transportation, and storage. The increase in drinking water from different sources especially in Sabongida Area of Zamfara state has made it necessary to investigate the microbial content of water.
hashimu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.