Effect of Urban Effluent on River Water Quality in the Niger Delta

Urban effluent polluted with sewage is a major source of pollution in developing countries, yet it is a line of study that is not properly explored. In this research, a river under influence from urban effluent was studied for four months, i.e. two seasons (dry season: February and March, wet season: April and May. Four sites along the river were identified for weekly sampling, with a distance from the start of the river as follows; site 1-100m, site 2-300m, site 3- 500m and site 4- 1000m. In situ measurements of salinity were collected weekly. Samples were analysed for Dissolved Oxygen, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, phosphate and nitrate. Total Heterotrophic Bacteria (THB), Total Coliform Bacteria (TCB) and Faecal Coliform Bacteria (FCB) were also measured in water samples collected. These parameters were selected to access the activities of the microbial community in the water because of wastewater from the surrounding urban settlement on the watershed temporally and spatially. Results showed that the parameters studied changed in season and along the river. The dry season had significantly higher concentrations of parameters studied when compared to the wet seasons. Results also confirmed that the study river is polluted due to the urban effluent. This confirmation was attributed to the values of THB, TCB and FCB which were substantially high and varied from dry to wet season in the river