ABSTRACT:
The present study assessed water quality parameters and attempts to compare four different Water
Quality Indexes (WQIs) for consistency, similarity and reliability in assessing the water quality of
river Benue -an inland river- under wet and dry seasons. The results demonstrate that River Benue
is continually being polluted in both dry and wet seasons by different sources, particularly domestic
sewage and storm runoffs from farmlands. The quality of the water generally exceeded
physiochemical and microbiological infection risk limits recommended in water quality guidelines
concerning their use for domestic, recreational and irrigational purposes. Proper sewage treatment
and river quality monitoring are needed to guard against hazards to public health and vulnerable
river water resources. The WQIs applied were: CCME WQI, BC WQI, Dinius’ WQI and Weighted
Arithmetic WQI. To evaluate the differences between these indexes, data on ten water quality
parameters (Temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, Nitrates, Phosphates,
biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and faecal coliform count) for two distinct seasons
from 6 river monitoring sites along the river Benue at Makurdi reach, were used. Significant
discrepancies were observed in classification results between the Dinius’ WQI and the other three WQIs. Similarly, the WA and BC WQIs showed an over-optimistic rating due to their eclipsing
limitation. Among others, it was concluded that any of the four indexes except Dinius’ index can be
adopted but the CCME water quality index would be best suited for assessing water quality in River
Benue
Emmanuel, K., Franklin, K & Raphael, I (2021). Comparison of water quality indexes for inland river. Afribary. Retrieved from https://tracking.afribary.com/works/comparison-of-water-quality-indexes-for-inland-river
Emmanuel, Kon, et. al. "Comparison of water quality indexes for inland river" Afribary. Afribary, 07 Apr. 2021, https://tracking.afribary.com/works/comparison-of-water-quality-indexes-for-inland-river. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Emmanuel, Kon, Kondum Franklin and Iwar Raphael . "Comparison of water quality indexes for inland river". Afribary, Afribary, 07 Apr. 2021. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. < https://tracking.afribary.com/works/comparison-of-water-quality-indexes-for-inland-river >.
Emmanuel, Kon, Kondum Franklin and Iwar Raphael . "Comparison of water quality indexes for inland river" Afribary (2021). Accessed December 23, 2024. https://tracking.afribary.com/works/comparison-of-water-quality-indexes-for-inland-river