Water Quality Assessment on Physicochemical and Biological Parameters of Selected Lentic Ecosystem in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the suitability of the ponds in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria for domestic use. A cross-sectional study was carried out for the study. Composite sampling method was used, where three water samples were collected randomly from each station to ensure that the samples were representative of the entire station. Samples were collected during the rainy season, given that the ponds always dry up during the dry season. Physicochemical and microbial analyses were carried out on water samples of selected lentic aquatic ecosystems in randomly identified ponds in five communities of Aboh Mbaise. These ponds are used by the residents of these villages for various domestic and anthropogenic activities. Statistical analyses include: descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance, Parallel coordinate plot, Pearson correlation, Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) and Water Quality Index (WQI) were carried out. Results indicate that pond water within the study area did not fall within the bracket of good water quality, as per the WQI range of 0 to 50, thereby affirming the poor quality of water. The WQI for the five ponds ranges from 1338.71 - 3322.81.  There is a direct correlation between the presence of Total Bacterial Counts from Shigella and Salmonella counts and the presence of fecal contamination from both human and animal wastes. Given the poor quality of the pond water, it is unhealthy for the inhabitants in the study area to use pond water for food preparation and other household tasks, except if it is treated.