Bioscience Methods 2018, Vol.9, No.1, 1-11
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One way analysis of variance was carried out at P<0.05. The means of the each parameter were tested for
significance using Duncan multiple range test statistics.
2 Results and Discussion
The physicochemical quality of River Nun at Gbarantoru and Tombia towns axis in Bayelsa state is presented in
Table 1. While the Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (r) matrices for the physicochemical parameters under
study are presented in Table 2. The overall mean with Nigerian drinking water quality and World Health
Organization standard are presented in Table 3.
Table 1 Physicochemical characteristics of Nun River at Gbarantoru and Tombia axis in Bayelsa state Nigeria
Parameters
Location A (around oil and
gas installations)
Location B (Gbarantoru)
Location C (Tombia town)
pH
6.27±0.01a
6.33±0.01b
6.45±0.01c
Salinity
(
mg/l)
0.03±0.01a
0.03±0.01a
0.03±0.01a
Conductivity (µS/cm)
59.70±0.10a
68.73±0.03b
71.65±0.05c
Turbidity (NTU)
18.52±0.06a
18.75±0.04a
18.99±0.18b
Total Dissolved Solid (mg/l)
29.83±0.06a
34.37±0.02b
35.83±0.03c
Total Suspended Solid (mg/l)
1.96±0.02a
2.09±0.01b
2.13±0.01c
Total Alkalinity (mg/l)
15.20±0.20b
15.50±0.10b
13.40±0.20a
Total Hardness (mg/l)
23.30±0.26b
22.23±0.21a
22.20±0.20a
Nitrate (mg/l)
0.35±0.00c
0.28±0.00b
0.18±0.00a
Chloride (mg/l)
14.33±0.12c
11.40±0.10b
11.10±0.10a
Sulphate (mg/l)
2.53±0.01c
2.26±0.03b
1.79±0.06a
Calcium (mg/l)
9.20±0.61b
7.69±0.05a
7.05±0.06a
Magnesium(mg/l)
3.17±0.00c
2.38±0.05b
1.92±0.05a
Sodium (mg/l)
4.55±0.01b
4.84±0.02c
3.55±0.02a
Potassium (mg/l)
1.17±0.00a
1.38±0.14b
1.38±0.04b
Bicarbonate (mg/l)
0.97±0.40a
1.43±0.06a
1.03±0.06a
Dissolved oxygen (mg/l)
6.71±0.01c
5.96±0.11a
6.26±0.03b
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (mg/l)
153.37±0.78b
148.80±0.20a
157.13±1.21c
Note: Data mean±Standard Deviation (n=3). Different alphabets along the row indicate significant difference (P<0.05) according to
Duncan multiple range test statistics
2.1 pH
The pH of Nun River at Gbarantoru and Tombia towns axis ranged from 6.27-6.45, being significantly different
(P<0.05) among the various locations (Table 1). The pH of water showed positive significant relationship with
conductivity, turbidity, total suspended solid and total dissolved solid at P<0.01, potassium at P<0.05 and negative
correlate nitrate, chloride, sulphate, calcium and magnesium at P<0.05 (Table 2). Location A-an area around oil
and gas facilities had lower (acidic pH) compared to other locations. The variation suggests varying level of
anthropogenic activities at the different locations (Ben-Eledo et al., 2017). The values reported in this study is
within the value of 5.80-7.57 from Epie creek (Izonfuo and Bariwari, 2001; Ben-Eledo et al., 2017), 5.53-6.85
from Ikoli creek (Ogamba et al., 2015b). But lower than the values previously reported from Tombia bridge
construction area (7.4-7.6) (Seiyaboh et al., 2013a), Kolo creek (6.61-7.50) (Aghoghovwia and Ohimain, 2014;
Ogamba et al., 2015a), Igbedi creek (7.11-7.32) (Seiyaboh et al., 2013b), Nun river at Amassoma axis (6.53-7.35)
(Agedah et al., 2015; Ogamba et al., 2015c), Taylor creek (7.2) (Daka et al., 2014). The variation is associated to
the level of acidic material leached into the water from various human anthropogenic activities (Ben-Eledo et al.,
2017). Furthermore, seasonal influence could lead to dilution accounting for the difference that exists in the result
of this study compared to previous studies. Izonfuo and Bariwari (2001), Ben-Eledo et al. (2017) have reported that
water pH could be affected by season. The values observed in this study depicts that the water is not fit for human
consumption based on Nigerian drinking water quality and World Health Organization standard for pH (Table 3).
