Browsing by Author "Ken-Onukuba, Doris Nkechi"

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    Water quality of Ekulu and Asata River in Enugu area , SouthEastern Nigeria, using geochemical and baceriological parameters
    (Federal University of Technology, Owerri, 2016-09) Ken-Onukuba, Doris Nkechi
    Ekulu and Asata Rivers are major sources of water supply for domestic and industrial use in Enugu Southeasthern Nigeria. The Rivers have been exploited and abused over the past decades and henceforth have lost their original status of potability and usage for domestic, recreational and industrial use due to human activities such as mining, industrial and agricultural activities. It is in this light that this work was initiated to comparatively assess the quality of both rivers in terms of geochemical and bacteriological characteristics. Data for the study was generated from the water samples collected from the study area. The pH of the water samples taken from River Ekulu ranged from 4.5 to 6.0 while Asata River recorded a pH range of 5.8 to 7.0. Extremely high turbidity values ranging from 106NTU-294NTU recorded at River Ekulu trends far above standard WHO limit of 5NTU. River Asata has relatively low turbidity (7.88-40NTU) when compared to River Ekulu. Records of River Asata reveal higher electrical conductivities, Total Dissolved Solids, Dissolved Oxygen, Calcium, Magnesium, salinity and total hardness than those of River Ekulu. Higher Iron and Manganese concentrations were recorded at River Ekulu, hence its low acidic content. The heavy metals analysed include Lead, Iron, Copper, Chromium, Manganese and Arsenic most of which had low concentrations as some of them were below detection limits. However, Iron and Chromium are shown to be of high concentrations. At River Ekulu, the recorded values for Lead range from 0.01-0.031, Iron 3.1-7.35, Copper 0.00-0.032, Chromium 0.00 – 0.089, Manganese 0.007-0.079 and Arsenic 0.00-0.00 while at River Asata, the values for lead range from 0.00-0.047, Iron 1.09-2.58, Copper 0.00-0.022, Chromium 0.00-0.429, Manganese 0.00-0.021 and Arsenic 0.00-0.00. River Ekulu and Asata recorded high total faecal count throughout the entire study area (20 to 180) with higher percentages at River Ekulu. The data was statistically analysed using Histograms, Piper Diagram and Stiff Diagram. The Piper Chart Classified the River Ekulu as Calcium Chloride Type and River Asata as Mixed Water Type.