Water Quality Assessment of River Areba, Niger Delta, Nigeria Using Physical and Chemical Indices

Abstract

Water samples were collected from January to December, 2000 and analysed for water temperature, conductivity, pH, turbidity, colour, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total solids, dissolved oxygen (DO₁), biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), carbonate, bicarbonate, total hardness, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphate, sulphate, chloride, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The mean values of turbidity (958.99mg/l), colour (217.75mg/l), phosphate (0.98mg/l), biological oxygen demand (19.52mg/l), ammonium (0.98mg/l) and phosphate (0.78mg/l) were above World Health Organization limits for drinking water. Seasonally, water temperatures, total dissolved solids, biological oxygen demand, chemical demand, nitrate-N, nitrite, ammonium-N, phosphate, sulphate and magnesium were higher during the dry season while other parameters were higher during the rainy season.

Keywords: River Areba, Water quality, Monthly variations, seasonality.