Prediction of Some Water Quality Indices in River Yobe- Nigeria, through Annual Projections

Water quality assessment or monitoring involves the determination of a number of parameters using several analytical techniques which are usually cumbersome. In this study, an attempt was made to establish relationships between some water quality indicators which can be used to predict other related parameters in order to ease up the long experimental procedures involved. This was achieved by collecting water samples from six locations along river Yobe-Nigeria during the wet and dry seasons as well as the harmattan period. The conductivity, turbidity and total dissolved solids (TDS) of the samples were measured using standard analytical techniques. Results of the study showed both location and seasonal variations in levels of the conductivity and TDS but were within the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) permissible limits for drinking water. However, the levels of turbidity which ranged from 11.332.16 NTU to 21.833.97NTU exceeded the standard limits. Significant differences (p<0.05) in conductivity, TDS and turbidity were recorded between seasons at most of the locations. Based on the data obtained, annual variations were calculated and empirical relationships between these three variables were established. The relationships suggest that the quality of the river investigated can be monitored effectively by controlling the conductivity of the water. The relationships may also be applicable to surface waters which contain similar composition of ions in the water and can be used to predict levels of other related physicochemical parameters used in assessing quality of the surface water.