Abstract
A pre-dredging investigation of the physico-chemical qualities of the River Niger at the Onitsha-Urban Stretch was undertaken between January 2008 and December 2009. With the exception of the downstream station I and upstream station 5 (stations with minimal perturbations), stations 2, 3 and 4 had colossal but varied degrees of domestic, industrial, agricultural and automobile waste deposits. Of the 26 physico-chemical parameters determined, Transparency, Total Alkalinity, Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Total Solid (TS), Depth, Nitrate, Lead, Iron and Calcium varied significantly (P<0.01) among the stations. Aposteriori Duncan Multiple Range test showed that Transparency was significantly (P<0.001) higher at station 5 than at the other stations. Total Alkalinity and Conductivity were higher in stations 2 and 3, 1 and 4 than in station 5. TDS, TSS and TS were significantly higher at stations 2, 3, 4 than in stations 1 and 5. Air and water temperatures were significantly different (P<0.05) across the 5 stations while CO2 was significantly higher at station 1 than others. pH in stations 2 and 5 is significantly higher than it is in 1, 3 and 5. DO was higher in station 5 and 2 than the other stations. BOD was highest in stations 1 and 4 than the other three stations. The principal Component Analysis using Varimax Rotation showed that the major parameters controlling the water quality of the study area were pH, air temperature, transparency, BOD, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), total alkalinity, conductivity, water current, phosphate and total dissolved solids (TDS).
Highlights
Water bodies are known to cover about 70% of the earth’s surface and function as solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances (Taylor, 2000; Gleick et al, 2008).the results of human activities, influence of surrounding agricultural area, erosional run-offs from surrounding urban settlements, heavy domestic and industrial waste deposits near water banks cause water pollution and physico-chemical alterations in water conditions
The single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range (DMR) tests were used to test for significant difference among stations (Zar, 1984; Magurran, 1988; Ogbeibu, 2005)
The results of the physical and chemical conditions of the study stations are summarized in Table 1 which shows the result of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), the statistical significance and the location of significantly different means detected by the Duncan’s Multiple Range Test
Summary
Water bodies are known to cover about 70% of the earth’s surface and function as solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances (Taylor, 2000; Gleick et al, 2008).the results of human activities, influence of surrounding agricultural area, erosional run-offs from surrounding urban settlements, heavy domestic and industrial waste deposits near water banks cause water pollution and physico-chemical alterations in water conditions. A good management of any aquatic habitat must encompass the knowledge of the optimum properties of water (Odum, 1959; Krest & Anderson, 1975; Wetzel, 1990; Ogbeibu & Oribhabor, 2002). These physico chemical parameters have considerable bearings on the life of lotic organisms (Holden, 1960; Hynes, 1970; Boyd, 1979; Williams, 1980; Swingle, 1999). Earlier works on water quality include those of Holden and Green (1960) in River Sokoto, Egborge (1974,1979a) in Osun River in the West, Egborge and Sagay (1979) in Ona River in Osun State; and Ogbeibu and Victor (1989) in the Ikpoba River, Edo State.
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