Monitoring the Quality of Some Sources of Irrigation Water in Different Parts of Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Sustainability of Agricultural environment is very crucial to a developing national like Nigeria and the question of water quality has often been neglected, because good quality water supplies have been assumed to be abundant and readily available. Chemical analysis of water indicates its suitability for irrigation purposes. Rivers, streams and groundwater are the important potential sources of irrigation water in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. A study was therefore carried out to determine the quality of different sources (rivers and groundwater) of irrigation, in some local government areas of Ogun state. These include Abeokuta north, Ifo, Obafemi-Owode and Odeda. The physio-chemical properties of the sampled water were determined. Results revealed that, generally the quality of the water sources is good and suitable for irrigation. The chloride ions levels in all the water sources are within recommended limits. However, in some locations of the groundwater sampled, pH range of between 4.8 and 6.3 was observed showing it is acidic. This may be as a result of the presence of high concentrations of ferric and ferrous ions in the groundwater. The mean values of the conductivity, total dissolved solids and sodium ions were found to be 57% higher in groundwater than those of surface water. The implication of this is that while the rivers can easily be used to irrigate the different crops grown in this area, some level of proper irrigation management must be applied when using groundwater for irrigation so as to sustain the environmental management.