Water Quality Index (WQI) Assessment along Inland Fresh Waters of Taylor Creek in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The overall water quality status of Taylor Creek was determined using water quality index. The river course wascharacterized by human activities such as artisanal dredging, fish farming, waste dumpsites and farmlands amongst otherinfluences. Samples were collected in the dry season month of December 2018 at two points each across five stations. Atotal of ten surface water samples were analysed for physicochemical parameters using APHA standard procedures. Theassessed water quality parameters depicted the ranges: 73.00 – 79.00 μs/cm EC, 40.20 – 43.65 mg/l TDS, 5.85 – 6.20 pH,7.00 – 8.00 mg/l TA, 12.00 – 16.50 mg/l TH, 2.10 - 2.73 mg/l Ca, 0.58 – 1.07 mg/l Mg, 6.20 – 8.50 mg/l DO, 16.50 – 24.74mg/l Cl-, 3.00 – 3.60 mg/l NO3- and 0.50 – 1.71 mg/l BOD5. Only two water parameters depicted significant difference(P<0.05) with the trend: Ca < BOD5 while significant variation (P<0.05) among sample locations revealed the trend:Ogboloma > Okolobiri > Obunagha = Koroama > Polaku. EC showed strong positive correlation with TDS while NO3-showed the most positive correlation; its positive correlations with pH, TA, Cl-, DO and BOD depicts it as an importantwater quality indicator. Deterioration in water quality status depicted the trend: Koroama < Obunagha < Polaku < Ogboloma< Okolobiri. WQI assessment showed that the water environment was of poor quality which may portend adverse healthrisks to members of the public who consume it. Consequently, the Creek should be monitored regularly to evaluate trends,establish baseline information and guide against pollution-encroaching activities

Keywords:

Taylor creek , dissolved oxygen (DO) , American Public Health Association (APHA) , biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) , nitrate (NO3-)