Pollution Status of Heavy Metals in Water and Bottom Sediment of River Delimi in Jos, Nigeria

Sabo A^1, , Gani A. M² and Ibrahim A. Q¹

¹Environmental Management Technology Programme, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria

²Biological Sciences Programme, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria

Cite this paper:
Sabo A, Gani A. M and Ibrahim A. Q. Pollution Status of Heavy Metals in Water and Bottom Sediment of River Delimi in Jos, Nigeria. American Journal of Environmental Protection. 2013; 1(3):47-53. doi: 10.12691/env-1-3-1

Abstract

There has been a lot of concern on the rate at which industrial and domestic wastes are discharged into River Delimi in north central Nigeria. This study was an attempt to assess the status of heavy metal pollutants (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) in sediment and water from River Delimi in Jos city, with a view to determining its ability to support aquatic life and suitability for use in vegetable crop irrigation. The study was conducted at three major irrigation sites at Gangare (station I), Farin Gada (station II) and main campus of University of Jos (station III) along River Delimi and one control site at Lamingo Dam (station IV) all within Jos city. The total metal contents in water and sediment were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) after extraction with Conc. HNO₃ and aqua-regia respectively. Results of the study revealed that the total metals content in water and sediment were generally higher at the study compared to the control site. At the study site, the mean Cd concentrations in water at stations I (0.14mg/L), II (0.381mg/L) and III (0.300mg/L), Cu at stations I (0.341mg/L) and II (0.371mg/L) were above the limits of 0.01mg/L and 0.20mg/L for Cd and Cu respectively for irrigation water recommended by FAO. Further analysis on the sediment pollution status using Contamination Factor (CF) revealed that Cd obtained from all the sampling sites showed considerable (3 ≤ CF ≤ 6) contamination while the other metals showed low (CF < 1) contamination. The use of Geoaccumulation Index (I-geo) also showed that only Zn at station IV (control site) attained unpolluted status (Class 0) It is recommended among others that measures should be put in place by relevant authorities to regulate the indiscriminate dumping of domestic waste and untreated industrial effluents into the river.

Keywords:
heavy metals pollutants river delimi water sediment

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Figures

References:

[1]	Abowei, J.F.N. and Sikoki, F.D. Water Pollution Management and Control, Doubletrust. Publication. Company, Port Harcourt. 236pp. 2005.
[2]	Njoku D. C. and Keke I. R. A comparative study on water quality criteria of Delimi River in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria. ASSET Series A 3 (4):143-153. 2003.
[3]	Chukwu, O. Development of predictive models for evaluating environmental impacts of the food pr°Cessing industry: Case study of Nasko Foods Nigeria Limited and Cadbury Nigeria Plc. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. 2005.
[4]	Awofolu, O. R., Mbolekwa, Z., Mtshemla, V. and Fatoki, O. S. Levels of trace metals in water and sediment from Tyume River and its effects on an irrigated farmland. Water SA 31(1) 2005.
[5]	APHA Standard Method for Examination of Water and Wastewater. 18th ed. American Public Health Authority, Washington D. C. 1992.
[6]	Brewin, L. E., Mehra, A., Lynch, P. T. and Farago, M. E. Mechanism of copper tolerance in Armenia maritime in Dolfwynog Bog, North Wales – Initial studies. Environmental Ge°Chemistry and Health. 25(1) 2003.
[7]	Vardaki, C., and Kelepertsis, A. (1999). Environmental impacts of heavy metals (Fe, Ni, Cr and Co) in soils waters and plants of Triada in Euboea from ultrabasic r°Cks and nickeliferous mineralization. Environmental Ge°Chemistry and Health. 21 (3) 342-351.
[8]	Martin, J. M. and Meybeck, M. Elemental mass balance of materials carried by major world rivers, Mar Chem, 7: 173-206, 1979.
[9]	Nasr, S.M., Okbah, M. A. and S.M. Kasem. Environmental assessment of heavy metal pollution in bottom sediment of Aden port, Yemen. Int. J. °Cean °Ceanography, 1(1): 99-109. 2006
[10]	Muller G. Index of geoaccumulation in sediments of the Rhine river. Geol. J. 2(3): 108–118. 1969.
[11]	Addo, M. A., Affum, H. A., Botwe, B. O., Gbadago, J. K., Acquah, S. A. Senu, J. K., Adom, T., Coleman, A., Adu, P. S. and Mumuni, I. I. Assessment of water quality and heavy metal levels in water and bottom sediment samples from Mokwe Lagoon, Accra, Ghana. Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Science 4(2): 119-130. 2012.
[12]	Praveena, S.M., Ahmed, A., Radojevic, A. M., Abdullah, M. H., and Aris, A. Z. Factor cluster analysis and enrichment study of mangrove sediments-an example from Mengkabong, Sabah. Malaysian J. Anal. Sci.,11(2): 421-430. 2007.
[13]	FAO Water quality for agriculture. Technical paper No. 29. Irrigation and Drainage. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome. 1994.
[14]	UNEP. Report on Development and Harmonization of Environmental Standards in East Africa. 2: 1-4. 1999.
[15]	ANZECC and ARMCANZ. Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality, National Water Management Strategy No. 4, Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council and the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of New Zealand. 2000.
[16]	Itanna, F. Metals in leafy vegetables grown in Addis Ababa and toxicological implications. Ethiop.J.Health Dev.16(3):295-302. 2002.
[17]	Nirmal, J. I., Kumar, I, Soni, H., Rita, N. K. and Bhatt, I. Macrophytes in phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated water and sediments in Pariyej community Reserve, Gujarat, India. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 8: 193-2008.
[18]	Lee, S., Moon, J. and Moon, H. Heavy metals in the bed and suspended sediments of Anyang River, Korea. Implication for water quality. Environ. Ge°Chem. And Health, 25: 433-452. 2003.
[19]	Sabo, A., Nayaya, A. J. and Galadima, A. I. Assessment of some heavy metals in water, sediment and freshwater Mudfish (Clarias gariepinus) from River Gongola in Yamaltu-Deba, Gombe, Nigeria. International Journal of. Pure and. Applied. 2(4):6-12. 2008.
[20]	Singh, A., Sharma, R. K., Agrawal, M. and Marshal, F. A. Risk assessment of heavy metal toxicity through contaminated vegetables from waste water irrigated area of Varanasi, India. Tropical Ecology 51(2S): 375-387. 2010.
[21]	USEPA Report: recent Developments for In Situ Treatment of Metals contaminated Soils, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 1996.