Assessment of physico-chemical properties and metal contents of water and sediments of Bodo Creek, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

Some physico-chemical properties and the concentrations of the metals Fe, Mn, Ni, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, and Zn in water and sediments were examined from September 2011 to January 2012 in Bodo Creek, where oil spills have been recurrent. Temperature, pH, total dissolved solid, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total hardness, sulfate, nitrate, and phosphate were determined in surface water. Particle size, total organic matter (TOM), and pH were also determined in the sediments. The parameters were within permissible limits except the mean values of BOD, COD, total hardness, and sulfate that exceeded levels permissible for domestic use. The sediments consisted mainly of sand, with TOM ranging from 0.2% to 5.5%. With the exception of cadmium that was below detection limit, metal levels (mg kg−1) in the sediments were 12 (Mn), 1070 (Fe), 10 (Cu), 10 (Zn), 5.3 (Cr), 1.1 (Pb), 1.0 (Ni), and 0.5 (Co) while in water they were 24, 98, 21, 6.9, 4.0, 0.6, 0.18, and 0.16, respectively. The latter were higher than World Health Organization recommended permissible levels for both surface and drinking water.

Status of Heavy Metals in Water, Sediments and Clam (Galatea Paradoxa, Born 1778) of the Diebu Creek, Bayelsa State, Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

“…This implies that the linear model was significant, and there was a strong correlation and the implication was that Co, in sediment increased with increase in Co content of clam. These results are in concomitant with those reported by [21,22].…”

The Microbial Status and Physico-Chemical Pollutants Studies of Rivers Owan and Evbiobe in Edo State, Nigeria

“…Increases in pH may be caused by acceleratedalgal growth, such as that which may occur during an algal bloom (when pH canexceed 10) and denitrification. Lower wet season pH values for the rivers water were found to be consistent with the findings reported by many workers [3,18,19,20,29].…”

“…Chemical contaminants or pollutants in the aquatic environment can be divided into four groups, viz: the plant nutrients, the oxygen consuming substances, the inorganic substances including some anions and heavy metals; and the organic compounds. While the first two groups are not directly harmful to aquatic life, the last two groups especially the heavy metals and most organic compounds constitute the environmental refectories (not usually eliminated from the environment by natural degradation) and with direct toxicity to aquatic life [19,24,29]. Of particular concern to environmental toxicologists are those compounds, which accumulate in the tissues, from often undetectable concentrations in water; organisms may accumulate levels of biological significance (bioaccumulation).…”

“…One of the major biological effects of eutrophication resulting in financial loss is the stimulation of algae growth, especially in water supply reserviors. Large population of algae and in some cases the zooplankton which they support, may result in blocking of filters in water treatment works [10,29]. The algae blooms associated with excessive amounts of nutrients have other consequences for the aquatic ecosystem.…”

Conflicts – Oil Exploration and Water

“…[73] They reported significant increase in metal (zinc, lead and copper) loads postspill. A follow-up study [74] on metal concentrations in water and sediment in Bodo Creek also reported concentrations of magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, chromium, lead and cobolt as being higher than the World Health Organization [58] recommended permissible levels for surface and drinking water.…”