EVALUATION OF THE WATER QUALITY INDEX OF RIVER ETHIOPE IN NIGERIA FOR ITS SUITABILITY FOR DRINKING

Abstract

Communities along the bank of River Ethiope depend on it in meeting their daily water demands. However, the river is under serious threat of contamination as a result of anthropogenic activities and natural factors, and the use of such contaminated water has resulted in lots of water borne diseases. The study was carried out to assess the suitability of water from the river for drinking by evaluating its water quality index (WQI) using the weighted arithmetic method. Water samples were collected from 6 locations along a reach of the river at Obinomba in September, 2023 and analyzed for twenty (20) physico-chemical and bacteriological water quality parameters using American Public Health Association (APHA) method of testing water and wastewater. The descriptive statistics of the water samples from these six (6) were obtained and the mean values compared to WHO permissible limits for drinking water. Ten (10) parameters were chosen and weighted according to their importance and used in evaluating the Water Quality Index (WQI) of the river. the WQI of the river varied at all locations along its course but with higher values at areas where domestic and agricultural activities are concentrated indicating more contamination in those locations. The WQI in location 1-6 were; 46.496%, 53.934%, 84.032%, 89.698%, 76.549% and 61.433% respectively. Water for drinking should be collected far downstream or upstream from the community as the contamination levels are lesser as a result of the rivers self-purification property