Abstract
Due to indiscriminate activities of man through sand excavation, sand mining and illegal waste disposal within the watershed the study evaluated the effect of these activities on selected water quality parameters of Nworie River in Owerri -Imo State, Southeast Nigeria. The study area was divided into Upstream, Midstream and downstream. The river was sampled and the raw data from water sampling were subjected to laboratory analysis; results obtained were matched with standards. The results showed that the average pH of the river was 7.4; upstream and midstream had higher pH values than the downstream with low pH and these were within the permissible limit. Biological oxygen Demand (BOD) of the river were 75mg/l, 60mg/l and 56mg/l at the Upstream, Midstream and downstream with an average value of 64 mg/l . The river had a mean turbidity value of 76NTU and mean Total Dissolved solids (TDS) value of 272mg/l which were above the permissible limit. Calcium (Ca2+) did not exceed the standard limit while magnesium exceeded the standard limit by 68% at the Upstream. Nworie river had mean water conductivity value of 93S/cm; water conductivity at the Midstream and downstream were within the permissible limits while the Upstream had 6% increase above the acceptable limit. It was observed from this study that Nworie river exhibited three different colours of light-green, dark-green and brownish-muddy colour respectively at the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream which could be attributed to the level of erosional deposits and sediment loads from the degraded watershed. Further degradation of the watershed should be avoided by practising good soil conservation measures, ensuring that indiscriminate activities of inhabitants of the area are stopped and since environmental balance, land degradation, water management and food security are strongly linked, each must be addressed in the context of the other to have a measurable impact to the society.
Highlights
IntroductionWater is the most important natural resource and valuable natural asset which forms the major constituent of the ecosystem
Water quality along with quantity determines the health of freshwater ecosystems affecting the suitability of water for drinking and agriculture Land degradation represents a downward trend in the environmental resource such that their level of use in human society decreases at an increasing rate (FAO,1994)
Significant effect of land degradation on the water quality of the river was evidenced in the level of constituents found in the analysed water samples which were above the desirable limits ; unsafe for drinking and human consumption
Summary
Water is the most important natural resource and valuable natural asset which forms the major constituent of the ecosystem. Rivers are the most important freshwater resource for man, river waters are being polluted by indiscriminate disposal of sewage, industrial waste which affects their physical and chemical characteristics as well as microbiological quality (Koshy and Nayar, 1999). The quality of water sources deteriorates due to point source and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution includes industrial effluents and discharges from municipal waste water treatment plant while nonpoint source pollution includes agricultural runoff, seepage of septic tank effluents, indiscriminate waste dumping into streams and rivers (Deepika and Singh, 2015). Water quality along with quantity determines the health of freshwater ecosystems affecting the suitability of water for drinking and agriculture Land degradation represents a downward trend in the environmental resource such that their level of use in human society decreases at an increasing rate (FAO,1994). Significant among the physical land degradation is erosion which remains one of the critical environmental issues in southeastern Nigeria and most times reduces cropland productivity and contributes to the pollution of adjacent watercourses
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