Assessment of Water Quality Status and Benthic Fauna Diversity of Amuzuta Stream, Umuahia, Southeast Nigeria
Abstract
The assessment of water quality status and benthic fauna composition of Amuzuta Stream in Umuahia Southeastern part of Nigeria was carried in this study. Physiochemical and microbiological parameters were measured following standard procedures, and the benthic fauna’s were identified accordingly. Data collected were compared to World Health Organization (WHO) standards and analyzed using one factor Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Correlation analysis was used to establish relationship between physiochemical parameters at 5% level of significance. The stream showed high bacterial and faecal load, all above the WHO limit. Benthic fauna composition and identification was carried out under a stereomicroscope and a 400X optical microscope. The benthic fauna of the stream in the dry season were dominated by Melanodies and Chronomidae (38%) followed by Veliidae, Gyrinidae, Zypoptera (6%) > Gomphidae and Hydrocarina (3%); while in the rainy season, Zygopterasp and Germidae H16 (18%) were more distributed. The ranking for remaining organisms was Hydropsychidae, Oligachaeta and Naedidae (12%)>Philopotamide, Gamphidae, Libelludae, Ecnomidae, and Caloptergidae (6%). Worms and Diptera (in dry season) and Odonata and Hemiptera (in rainy season) were the most distributed benthos. The Water Quality Index (WQI) for the stream for both seasons was calculated to be 41, and the water was found to be under excellent to good water quality for domestic use but not for drinking purpose. Further assessment of the stream water and necessary measures to be taken to prevent and reduce contamination of the water is highly recommended.
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.
