Browsing by Author "Omotoso, Oladele Ajiboro."

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    Preliminary Assessment of the Quality of Asa River Water, North Central Nigeria: Implications for Irrigation.
    (2018) Omotoso, Oladele Ajiboro.; Ojo, Olusola Johnson; Olojoku, Kehinde; Alebiosu, Mercy Titilayo; Yusuf, Mumeen Adebayo; Kobiowu O.O
    The premilinary assessment of quality of Asa river water, North central Nigeria was carried out using ICP-MS, AAS and volumetric analytical methods in order to assess its suitability for irrigation purposes. The relative abundance of cations and anions in the water samples are Ca2+ >Na+>K+>Mg2+ and HCO3- > SO42->Cl- respectively and the dominant water type is Ca-HCO3. Most of the range of values of irrigation parameters computed are within the recommended limits. SAR falls within excellent range of <10; MAR and SSP fall below recommended value of 50; PS falls below the recommended limit of 3 meq/1; KR falls below 1; RSC falls below 2.5meq/1 and CIA gives an indication of ionic base exchange between Ca, Mg, Na and K ions of the water and the rock types respectively. Under specific ion toxicity, Cl-, Na+ and Boron fall below recommended limits of 106ppm, 69ppm and 0.7ppm respectively. However, the range of HCO3- in the water is from 0.59 to 2.69 meq/1 (average=1.37 meq/1). About 50% of the water samples (taken from the southern part of the river) is greater than 1.5 meq/1 above the prescribed limit. Consequently, the range of pH recorded (Range=7.3 to 8.8; average=8.0) cut across slight-moderate-severe according to the degree of restriction on use, making the water unfit for irrigation purposes. This can lead to reduction in the yields of plants/crops. Respective average values of Fe and Mn in the analyzed water (4.8 and 1.6ppm respectively) are above FAO (1985) standard for irrigation water. Gibbs’ diagram and correlation coefficients of the ion suggest the source of ions from chemical weathering of the aluminosilicate minerals (in the rock types and sediments in the study area), precipitation, leaching of secondary salts and anthropogenic influences from the catchment area. Hence, based on the values obtained for HCO3-, pH, Mn and Fe, the water is unfit for irrigation practices.