Assessment of Some Aspects of the Physicochemical Parameters of Surface Water in Kurudu Reservoir, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria

Assessment of some aspects of the physicochemical parameters of surface water in Kurudu Reservoir in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria was assessed from January 2018 to December 2019. The aim of this study was to determine some aspect of physicochemical parameter to determine water quality condition of the reservoirs for conservation, management and sustainable use of the reservoirs. Water Samples were collected from three sampling stations and analyzed using standard methods, procedures and instruments. The results of physico-chemical parameters in Kurudu reservoir had a range as shown; The temperature ranged from 23.8-32.3°C with a mean value of 26.0±1.9°C, the pH ranged from 6.3-7.9 with a mean value of 7.1±0.3, and the Secchi depth (transparency) ranged from 0.4-1.8m with a mean value of 1.2±0.4m. Turbidity ranged from 10.5-85.0 NTU with a mean value of 26.0±13.4 NTU. The electrical conductivity (EC) ranged from 59.8-257.0 S/cm with a mean of 105.4±31.9 S/cm, the dissolved oxygen ranged from 4.9-7.1 mg/l with a mean of 6.2±0.4 mg/l, and the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) ranged from 5.0-8.0 mg/l with a mean of 5.7±0.6 mg/l. Nitrate levels ranged from 3.9-8.5 mg/l with a mean of 6.7±0.9 mg/l, Phosphate levels ranged from 0.0-0.2 mg/l with a mean of 0.1±0.0 mg/l, iron levels ranged from 0.0-1.6 mg/l with a mean of 0.1±0.0 mg/l, and lead (0.0-bdl). Mean values of physicochemical parameters were within the recommended WHO limits except for Turbidity and Nitrate. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of mean physicochemical parameters between stations and months were not significantly different (P>0.05) as shown by the p-value in Table 2. However, ANOVA of seasonal mean values of turbidity, transparency, EC, Phosphate and Iron values were significantly different (P>0.05). Pearson’s correlation analysis is shown in Table 5. Temperature-transparency (r = 0.592), temperature-EC (r = 0.652), transparencyEC (r = 0.789), turbidity-BOD (r = 0.835) and turbidity- Fe2+ (r = 0.665) had a positive significant relationship whereas temperature-turbidity (r = -0.659), temperature-Fe2+(r = -0.758), temperature-PO4 (r = -0.537) transparency-turbidity (r = -0.938), transparency-BOD (r = -0.880), turbidity- Fe2+ (r = -0.513), turbidity-EC (r = -0.728), EC-Fe2+ (r = -0.547), DO-BOD (r = -0.547) and nitrate-phosphate (r = -0.804) had a negative significant relationship. Calculated water quality index using Horton’s method was 62.35, this study has shown that the reservoirs falls within “good/average” water quality, with class II level of pollution which is indicative of moderate pollution especially during the rainy season. Effective monitoring of reservoir and regulation of activities in and around the reservoir are recommended, also water from the reservoir should be treatment before consumption.