Assessment of quality of river Niger floodplain water at Jebba, central Nigeria: implications for irrigation
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
E.W. Publications
Abstract
Preliminary hydro-chemical evaluation of River Niger Floodplain at Jebba, Nigeria was carried out using ICP/MS and
AAS methods in order to assess its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes. Relative abundance of cations
concentration at the pond water, well water and stream water were: Na>Ca>K>Mg, Na>Ca>Mg>K and
Ca>Na>K>Mg respectively while those of the anions were: Cl>HCO3>SO4>CO3>NO3, Cl>SO4>HCO3>CO3>NO3
and Cl>HCO3>SO4>NO3>CO3
respectively. The average values of Revelle Contamination Index for the water
samples were greater than one, hence,the water is not good for human or domestic consumption. On the average,
pond and stream waters range from soft tomoderately soft while the well water is extremely hard (influence of
lithology). The pond, well and stream waters are slightly alkaline with average value of pH as 7.8, 7.5 and 7.8
respectively. Interestingly, the calculated Indices: Sodium Adsorption Ratio, MagnesiumAdsorption Ratio, Residual
Sodium Carbonate, Residual Sodium Bicarbonate, Permeability Index, Kelly Ratio, Potential Salinity and Soluble
Sodium Percentage, which could indicate the water quality for irrigation show that the water is safe for irrigation
practices. However, caution must be made while using well W1 because it shows high value of Magnesium
Absorption Ratio (54.62) and high value of Kelly Ratio (1.06) which makes it unfit for irrigation purposes.
Description
Keywords
water quality, pond water, well water, stream water, water quality for irrigation, river Niger