A Study of the Physico-chemical Parameters and Heavy Metal Concentration in Water and Sediment of Ogbe-ijoh Waterside of Warri River
Abstract of A Study of the Physico-chemical Parameters and Heavy Metal Concentration in Water and Sediment of Ogbe-ijoh Waterside of Warri River
A study of the physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals contamination in water and sediments of Ogbe-Ijoh waterside of Warri river, Delta state, Nigeria was carried out between February and July 2013. All samples were taken from three different points along the river. The physico-chemical parameters of the water samples were measured both in-situ and in the laboratory. The parameters measured included air and water temperature, pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), dissolved oxygen (DO1), chemical oxygen demand (COD), electrical conductivity (EC), transparency, total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, ammonium-nitrogen (NH3-N), chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The range values of the measured parameters were compared with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) standards. The findings showed that all the physico-chemical parameters measured were within the tolerable value ranges except pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and phosphates (PO43-). The pH of the water was found to be between 5.49 to 7.98; showing a moderately acidic to neutral condition in the study area as opposed to WHO (7.0 – 8.5) and FEPA (6.00 – 9.00) limits. COD exceeded WHO and FEPA limits (10mg/l) with the range values of 7.60-71.92mg/l while phosphates with range values between 0.18 – 0.90mg/l exceeded WHO (0.26mg/l) and FEPA (0.50mg/l) limits. The results from the heavy metals (Cd, Ni, Mn, Cr, Pb and Hg) assessed for both water and sediments showed that Cd, Ni, Mn and Cr were not detected in the water but were detected in the sediments; however, Hg was detected in neither water nor sediment. The mean concentration of metals in water were 0.25±0.38mg/l (Cr) and 0.13±0.06mg/l (Pb), and mean concentration of metals in sediment were 4.13±2.06mg/kg (Cd), 107.90±16.08mg/kg (Mn), 2.08±0.63mg/kg (Ni), 1.61±0.52mg/kg (Cr) and 72.03±11.2mg/kg (Pb). These values exceeded WHO and FEPA limits thus suggesting thatthe water is unfit for consumption, therefore, frequent monitoring of physico-chemical parameters of Ogbe-Ijoh waterside of Warri river is imperative.