Water Quality Variations within the Urban Stretch of a River in Nigeria | Chapter 3 | Challenging Issues on Environment and Earth Science Vol. 2

 Sango-Otta in Nigeria is Ogun State's industrial nerve centre. Many beverage and other related factories are located there. The River Atuara drains the densely populated industrial zone, which can pose a sanitation problem for users downstream of the urbanised stretch. This study aims to assess the quality of water in the river along its 13-kilometer urbanised stretch, which runs through the quarters of Owode – Otta and Gbenga in Sango – Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria. To assess the extent of contamination in the river channel, a review of the physical and chemical analysis of the water quality in the river channel is performed. TDS, pH, colour, and temperature measurements were taken at nine different locations along the 21-kilometer river stretch. pH, Conductivity, Turbidity, DO, BOD, COD, TDS, and TSS were all tested in the lab at four different locations along the water course. Phosphate is one of the others. Chloride, Nitrate, Sulphate, Cadmium, Lead, Iron, Copper, Zinc, and Nickel are some of the elements present in the human body. The water quality degrades downstream of the urbanised stretch, according to the findings. The presence of heavy metals in the river poses some questions. The lead content at Owode is 0.11 mg/L, which is above the allowable limit of 0.01 mg/l and can cause cancer. This can affect infants' mental growth by interfering with Vitamin D metabolism. The central and peripheral nervous systems are also affected. Cadmium levels are below 0.002, which is only below the Nigerian limit of 0.003 mg/l. Between Owode and Ewupe, the nickel content was 0.046mg/l, which is higher than Nigeria's maximum permissible amount of 0.02. This may have a carcinogenic effect on the body. The industrial impacts of Owode and Ewupe are greater than those of Igboloye and Gbenga. The patterns of each of the 21 parameters measured along the river's urbanised stretch follow a pattern that can be classified as identical, mirrored, somersault, or a combination of mirrored and somersault. More research is needed in this region, as well as determining the locations of factories and industries that contribute to the pollution level in the Ewupe area, as well as their effluent disposal programmes.

Author (s) Details

F. A. Oginni,
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Adeleke University, Ede, Nigeria.

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