An assessment of the effect of industrial pollution on Ibese River, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper deals with pollution aspect of environmental management and monitoring of the river for its sustainable development. The water quality assessment of Ibese River, which is the principal river of the Igbogbo Abayeku Areas of Ikorodu in Lagos, was performed. Assessment was undertaken according to different physical and chemical parameters including biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, acidity, total hardness (TH), grease content, major cation and anion, and some heavy metals. Results showed that the river, which was of good water quality at its upstream, in terms of the aforementioned parameters, becomes progressively polluted by the waste materials discharged along its course. A general downstream trend of increase in organic and inorganic pollution was declared. Thus, Ibese River currently faces a number of serious environmental and ecological challenges. Urbanization and industrialization of the watershed at Ibese area in Ikorodu contributed to the water quality deterioration with regional consequences on the aquatic ecosystem and on the health of the downstream’s user groups. This synergetic effect is of concern for the sustainable use of the resources.

Key words: Nigeria, Ibese River, water pollution, major cation and anion, heavy metals, water quality deterioration.