Assessment of water quality parameters in selected fish farms in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated water quality parameters from selected fish farms in Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria. Water samples were collected from ten fish farms and analysed using the standard procedures recommended by the American Public Health Association. The parameters such as temperature, turbidity, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate (NO3), and alkalinity were assessed and results were analysed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the aid of SPSS version 27. The values of the physicochemical parameters of ten fish farms were between the range of 24.03+0.03 to 29.40±0.23°C for temperature, 6.68+0.11 to 7.83±0.05 for pH, 2.07+0.00 to 61.33±0.23 NUT for turbidity, 715.33+195.02 to 1631.67±31.38 μS/cm for EC, 5.23+0.03 to 8.17±0.88 mg/L for DO, 13.70+1.37 to 100.33+0.33 for NO3, and 118.67+2.91 to 333.33+33.18 for alkalinity respectively. All parameters examined were within acceptable limits recommended by World Health Organization except NO3 value which exceed in six farms and may lead to methemoglobinemia, decreased immune response and osmoregulatory function in fish. DO positively correlated with temperature, pH, NTU, EC, NO3 and alkalinity. Temperature positively correlated with all other parameters except pH. pH positively correlated with NTU, EC and DO but negatively correlated with other parameters. NTU and EC positively correlated with all other parameters except NO3 and alkalinity. A significant association between the parameters in each farm was observed. Regular monitoring and changing of water can help improve water quality for better fish farming in the area and the country at large.