Statistical Analysis and Classification of Pollutants in the Nokoué Lake (Benin)

Abstract

Abstract The water quality of a lake is an important factor for human health. Since the pollution level of the Nokoué Lake (Benin) became a concern, the present study was carried out to better understand and manage the quality of the surface water of this lake, to reduce the risks to damage the population health and the ecosystem equilibrium. The objective of the present work is the statistical study of the pollutants concentration data using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and clustering. The concentration of five pollutants, namely NO3−, NH4+, NT (total nitrogen), PO43−, and total phosphates (PT) were sampled on thirty-three sites of the Nokoué Lake and analyzed. Three principal components have been selected and the sites have been grouped in three clusters, one of them containing only the sites on Cotonou.