Physicochemical Characteristics of a Tropical Seasonal Water Body: Ikoro Stream, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of a tropical seasonal water body- Ikoro stream, Edo State, Nigeria using standard methods. The results obtained from the physical and chemical analyses showed that the range of values were: 23oC - 30oC for air temperature, 22oC - 29oC for water temperature, 1.28NTU - 14.48NTU for turbidity, 1mg/l - 10mg/l for total dissolved solid, 4.01 - 6.43 for pH, 2.3µScm-1 - 21.7µScm-1 for conductivity, 4.00mg/l - 13.00mg/l for dissolved oxygen, 0.005mg/l - 0.227mg/l for Sulphate, 0.004mg/l - 0.047mg/l for nitrate, 0.05mg/l - 0.15mg/l for phosphate, 0.49mg/l - 2.43mg/l for magnesium, 2.41mg/l - 8.02mg/l for calcium, 0.19mg/l - 8.71mg/l for ammonium, 14.3mg/l - 22.3mg/l for chloride, 1.33mg/l - 2.57mg/l for sodium, 0.76mg/l - 1.46mg/l for potassium, 10.18mg/l - 26.88mg/l for silicate, 18.30mg/l - 42.70mg/l for total alkalinity 2.90mg/l - 9.64mg/l for total hardness. The parameters fluctuated in all three stations throughout the period of study while only turbidity showed a seasonal pattern of increasing trend from dry season to rainy season. The stream had low nutrients level but high ammonium in one of the stations which clearly exceeded the WHO guideline for drinking water.