Assessment of Physico-Chemical Parameters and Water Quality of Surface Water of Iguedo River, Ovia South-West Local Government, Edo State

Abstract

Study of physico-chemical parameters was conducted on water collected from three selected points along Iguedo River Ovia, south-west. The water samples were collected during the months of January to June. The water samples were  analysed using standard procedures and the concentrations were between the following range; pH (5.53-5.75), Electrical Conductivity (94.92-135.50µS/cm), Chemical Oxygen Demand (28.57-41.15 mg/l), Dissolved Oxygen (5.75-6.41mg/l), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (2.39-2.66 mg/l), Nitrate (0.21-0.30mg/l), Phosphate (0.09-0.13mg/l)_, Sodium (0.30-0.58mg/l), Potassium (0.63-0.81mg/l), Calcium (0.12-0.20mg/l), Magnesium (0.23-0.32mg/l), Iron (0.28-0.36mg/l), Manganese (0.10mg/l), Zinc (0.07-0.10mg/l), Copper (0.02-0.02mg/l), Chromium (0.01-0.01mg/l), Cadmium & Lead (0.02-0.02mg/l), Nickel (0.06-0.06mg/l) and Vanadium (0.01-0.01mg/l). The concentrations of these physico-chemical parameters except cadmium did not show significant differences among the points (P>0.05). The concentrations of all the parameters were favourable according to the standard Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv) for surface water except cadmium which was higher than the stipulated values 0.10 mg/l.

Keywords: biological/chemical oxygen demand, Iguedo River, Environmental pollution, Water contamination