Assessment of groundwater quality at the Nigerian Institute for oceanography and marine research: Implication for production of aquaculture

Abstract

This study was carried out to ascertain the suitability of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research’s groundwater resources for aquaculture purposes. The samples were subjected to physico-chemical analyses and the parameters analyzed are Iron, pH, Sulphide ion Total Ammonia, Dissolved Oxygen, Alkalinity, Hardness, Salinity, Colour, Electrical Conductivity, Turbidity, Temperature, Taste, Odour, Total Dissolved Solids, and Nitrate. The Total Iron content of the ground water ranges from 0.1 to 0.6 mg/l, pH ranges the from 6.0 to 7.8. The Dissolved Oxygen ranges from 1.0 to 2.0 mg/l, Total Hardness ranges from 58 to 68 mg/ l, Electrical Conductivity, ranges from 0.04 to 0.06 uScm^-l .Alkalinity ranges from 46 to 140 mg/l. Turbidity ranges from 40 to 68 mg/l . The quality assessment of the NIOMR waters in Lagos State indicate that all the parameters are within the acceptable range for aquacultural production except for iron content in one of the boreholes where the concentration is about 0.6 mg/l. The results generally show that the study area has enormous potential for aquaculture development.

KEYWORDS: Aquaculture, Groundwater, Physicochemical parameters