en |
Impact of partially treated sewage effluent on the water quality of recipient Epie Creek Niger Delta, Nigeria using Malaysian Water Quality Index (WQI)
RIM-RUKEH, A & AGBOZU, I.E
Abstract
Impact of partially treated sewage effluent on the water quality of recipient
Epie Creek in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria was investigated experimentally by analysing the
physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the surface water samples collected at four
(4) sampling stations: at the effluent discharge point (fall out) (SS2), 500 m upstream (SS1),
500m downstream (SS3) and 1000m (SS4) downstream respectively from the point of
discharge. Sampling was carried out weekly between June 2009 and May 2010 (48 weeks).
Measured parameters of the water samples and the corresponding results are: pH (5.60 – 6.80),
turbidity (21.5 – 34.7 NTU), electrical conductivity (34.7 – 82.1 μS/cm), biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD) (12.4 -36.7 mg/l), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (17.3 – 53.2 mg/l), total
suspended solids (TSS) (17.70- 45.8 mg/l), dissolved oxygen (DO) (3.73 – 5.20 mg/l), total
dissolved solids (TDS) (57.3 – 187.0 mg/l), total phosphate (0.73 – 1.73 mg/l), ammoniacal
nitrogen (AN) (4.10 – 5.0 mg/l) and total fecal coliform count (TFCC) (2,120 – 20,800 cfu/ml).
The water quality at each of the sampling points was also assessed using Malaysian Water
Quality Index (WQI) and results show that, the water quality of Epie Creek defined at the
sampling stations belongs to Class IV with values that ranged between 31.0 and 51.9.
Empirically, the water quality can be described as fairly polluted. This means that the water
quality across the sampling points is poor indicating that most parameters have deteriorated.
© JASEM
Keywords
Malaysian Water Quality Index, Sewage, Wastewater treatment plant, Epie Creek, Fallout point,Class IV water
|