International Journal of Environmental Chemistry

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Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana

Received: Nov. 15, 2019    Accepted: Nov. 28, 2019    Published: Jan. 06, 2020
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Abstract

Increasing anthropogenic activities within the catchment of River Tano continues to threaten the river water quality but data is limited. Seasonal variations in some physicochemical and nutrients water quality parameters of River Tano were studied between November, 2016 and October, 2017 using electrometric and standard methods. The objective was to assess changes in physicochemical parameters and nutrient concentrations with the season and to generate useful information for water quality managers and policy makers to ameliorate the problem. The results showed significantly higher rainy season values for all the nutrients and the physicochemical parameters studied. The source of River Tano recorded pH levels lower than WHO minimum permissible level for both seasons but got corrected after 7.2 km from the source. The river was also challenged in terms of colour (61.0±4.6 NTU), total phosphorus content (0.376±0.3 mg/L), total suspended solids (69.7±24 mg/L), turbidity (96.2±21 mg/L) and electrical conductivity (252±33 µS/cm) since the levels of these parameters exceeded the permissible levels for WHO. Some physicochemical parameters and nutrients correlated strongly to indicate a possible common source to the water body. Cluster analysis extracted two clusters of the seasonal sampling sites for physicochemical parameters and three clusters for nutrients also confirming their respective possible common sources to the river. It is recommended that the buffer zone policy must be enforced to avert further deterioration of the river water quality. Industries must be compelled to treat their effluent before discharging into water bodies

DOI 10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11
Published in International Journal of Environmental Chemistry ( Volume 4, Issue 1, June 2020 )
Page(s) 1-12
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Freshwater, Physicochemical, Nutrient, Seasonal Variations, River Tano

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi, Bernard Fei-Baffoe, Osei Akoto. (2020). Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana. International Journal of Environmental Chemistry, 4(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11

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    ACS Style

    Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi; Bernard Fei-Baffoe; Osei Akoto. Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana. Int. J. Environ. Chem. 2020, 4(1), 1-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11

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    AMA Style

    Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi, Bernard Fei-Baffoe, Osei Akoto. Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana. Int J Environ Chem. 2020;4(1):1-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11,
      author = {Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi and Bernard Fei-Baffoe and Osei Akoto},
      title = {Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Chemistry},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-12},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijec.20200401.11},
      abstract = {Increasing anthropogenic activities within the catchment of River Tano continues to threaten the river water quality but data is limited. Seasonal variations in some physicochemical and nutrients water quality parameters of River Tano were studied between November, 2016 and October, 2017 using electrometric and standard methods. The objective was to assess changes in physicochemical parameters and nutrient concentrations with the season and to generate useful information for water quality managers and policy makers to ameliorate the problem. The results showed significantly higher rainy season values for all the nutrients and the physicochemical parameters studied. The source of River Tano recorded pH levels lower than WHO minimum permissible level for both seasons but got corrected after 7.2 km from the source. The river was also challenged in terms of colour (61.0±4.6 NTU), total phosphorus content (0.376±0.3 mg/L), total suspended solids (69.7±24 mg/L), turbidity (96.2±21 mg/L) and electrical conductivity (252±33 µS/cm) since the levels of these parameters exceeded the permissible levels for WHO. Some physicochemical parameters and nutrients correlated strongly to indicate a possible common source to the water body. Cluster analysis extracted two clusters of the seasonal sampling sites for physicochemical parameters and three clusters for nutrients also confirming their respective possible common sources to the river. It is recommended that the buffer zone policy must be enforced to avert further deterioration of the river water quality. Industries must be compelled to treat their effluent before discharging into water bodies},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Seasonal Variations in Physicochemical and Nutrient Water Quality of River Tano in Ghana
    AU  - Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi
    AU  - Bernard Fei-Baffoe
    AU  - Osei Akoto
    Y1  - 2020/01/06
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Chemistry
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Chemistry
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Chemistry
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 12
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-1460
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20200401.11
    AB  - Increasing anthropogenic activities within the catchment of River Tano continues to threaten the river water quality but data is limited. Seasonal variations in some physicochemical and nutrients water quality parameters of River Tano were studied between November, 2016 and October, 2017 using electrometric and standard methods. The objective was to assess changes in physicochemical parameters and nutrient concentrations with the season and to generate useful information for water quality managers and policy makers to ameliorate the problem. The results showed significantly higher rainy season values for all the nutrients and the physicochemical parameters studied. The source of River Tano recorded pH levels lower than WHO minimum permissible level for both seasons but got corrected after 7.2 km from the source. The river was also challenged in terms of colour (61.0±4.6 NTU), total phosphorus content (0.376±0.3 mg/L), total suspended solids (69.7±24 mg/L), turbidity (96.2±21 mg/L) and electrical conductivity (252±33 µS/cm) since the levels of these parameters exceeded the permissible levels for WHO. Some physicochemical parameters and nutrients correlated strongly to indicate a possible common source to the water body. Cluster analysis extracted two clusters of the seasonal sampling sites for physicochemical parameters and three clusters for nutrients also confirming their respective possible common sources to the river. It is recommended that the buffer zone policy must be enforced to avert further deterioration of the river water quality. Industries must be compelled to treat their effluent before discharging into water bodies
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana;Environmental Protection Agency, Ahafo Regional Office, Goaso, Ahafo Region, Ghana

  • Department of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Section