Physical and bio-chemical characteristics of Otamiri river and its sediments in parts of Owerri area, SouthEastern Nigeria
| dc.contributor.author | Inumidum, Fagorite Victor | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-17T10:52:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-17T10:52:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-11 | |
| dc.description | This thesis is for the award of Master of Science (M.Sc) in Environmental Geology | |
| dc.description.abstract | Physical and Bio-chemical characteristics of Otamiri river were investigated using digital meters, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) and Standard plate count technique. The results indicates that the mean pH concentrations of the Otamiri river obtained at four strategic gauge stations designated SSWS1 (Egbu), SSWS2 (Timber Market), SSWS3 (FUTO) and Downstream (Mbirichi) were 6.45, 6.58, 6.45 and 6.50 respectively while mean Total coli form count were 3.0 x 102 , 3.0 x 103 , 4.1 x 103 and 1.0 x 103 cfu/100ml respectively. The mean Total bacterial counts were 3.0 x 104 , 2.0 x 103 , 1.1 x 103 and 0.8 x 103 cfu/100ml respectively while the mean values for Total E. Coli. were 1.1 x 102, 3.0 x 102 , 4 x 103 and 2.0 x 103 cfu/100ml with biochemical identification of some organisms such as; Escherichia Coli., Vibro spp., Klebsiella spp., and Entrobacteria spp. The mean values for Pb2+ were 0.02, 0.02, 1.67and 0.02 mg/l respectively while that of Cd2+ were 0.004, 0.0036, 0.004 and 0.002 mg/l respectively. The mean concentrations for Fe+ were 0.01, 0.016, 0.23 and 0.10 mg/l while for Ni were 0.046, 0.06, 0.03and 0.01mg/l respectively. The mean pH, total bacterial count, total coli form count, total E. Coli., Pb2+, Cd2+, Fe+ and Ni concentrations were below the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2011 Standard for safe drinking water and thus constitute a threat to the River. The Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) of the river indicates that it is excellent for irrigation purposes even though correction of the pH needed to be done. The pollution index (PI) of the river shows that it is tending towards its critical value of 1. The results also show that concentrations of the major constituent cations (Na+ , Ca2+, K+ and Mg2+) and anions (HCO3 - , NO3, Cland SO4 2- ) conformed to WHO (2011) standard for safe drinking water. The result of stream sediment samples indicates that the concentrations of pH were 5.8, 5.90, 6.30 and 6.45 respectively while the Total Bacterial Count were 3.5x104 , 5.0x104 , 6.5x104 and 2.0x104 cfu/g respectively and that of Total Coliform Count was 6.5x103 , 2.0x103 , 2.5x103 and 0.8x103 cfu/g respectively. For the Total E. Coli Count, the values were 2.5x103, 1.0x103 , 2.5x103 and 0.5x105 cfu/g respectively with biochemical identification of some organisms such as; Escherichia Coli., Vibro spp., Klebsiella spp., Entrobacteria spp. and Bacillus spp. The mean concentrations values for Pb2+ were 0.08, 0.07, 0.06 and 0.05 mg/kg respectively while the values for Cd2+ were 0.32, 0.28, 0.30 and 0.25 mg/kg respectively. The values for Hg were 0.10, 0.13, 0.15and 0.18 mg/kg. The mean pH, total bacterial count, total coli form count, total E. Coli., Pb2+, Cd2+, and Hg concentrations were below Federal Ministry of Environment (FME) 2006 standard for soil and thus constitute a threat to the River; these are attributed to waste dumps and anthropogenic activities around the four stations. The results also show that concentrations of the major constituent cations (Na+ , K+ , Ca2+ and Mg2+) and anions (trend Cl- , CO3 - , PO4 -3 , SO4 2- , HCO3 - and NO3) conformed to FME (2006) standard for soil. The pH of the water can be treated using sodium bicarbonate while the sediment by liming method. The excessive concentrations of heavy metals especially iron can be treated using ascobic acid or ion exchange methods while the microbial constituents can be reduced by chlorination. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Inumidum, F. V. (2019). Physical and bio-chemical characteristics of Otamiri river and its sediments in parts of Owerri area, SouthEastern Nigeria [Unpublished Master's Thesis]. Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.futo.edu.ng/handle/20.500.14562/2382 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Federal University of Technology, Owerri | |
| dc.rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | PH | |
| dc.subject | heavy metals | |
| dc.subject | ascobic acid | |
| dc.subject | landfill | |
| dc.subject | water and sediment | |
| dc.subject | Department of Geology | |
| dc.title | Physical and bio-chemical characteristics of Otamiri river and its sediments in parts of Owerri area, SouthEastern Nigeria | |
| dc.type | Master’s Thesis |