The State Of Rivers In Warri/Effurun Regions Nigeria

The State Of Rivers In Warri/Effurun Regions Nigeria

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INTRODUCTION

A river is any large flow of a liquid in a single body. It is home to a lot of aquatic organisms and serves as a means of transportation to man.

Several researchers have reported that variations in physical and chemical factors exert profound effects on the number, abundance and distribution of the flora and fauna present in any aquatic system thereby resulting in the changes of the total number of species or organisms present as well as its suitability for both domestic and industrial uses (Nwankwo, 1989; Nwadiaro, 1990; Iloba, 2012).

Due to the fact that effluents are being discharged into the different Rivers in Warri/Effurun region in varying but undoubtedly large quantities, the health and/or sustainability of the water bodies could be doubtful since the sea activities cause the water quality to decrease and affect the biotic and abiotic organisms in the water (Perlman, 2005).

As an Environmentalist, it's imperative that the state and conditions of the water bodies are monitored and determined in order to ascertain whether its status, zooplanktons composition and abundance are still within permissible limit, which are of great importance, as well as to protect, preserve and repair (save) the aquatic life and environment, and by extension those interacting with them directly or indirectly, e.g. man.

There are a number of Rivers in the Warri/Effurun environment, some of which are: Warri River, Ekpan River, Kaigbodo, River Ethiope, Forcardos River, River Escravos, Burutu River, Effurun River, etc.

However, I will be using TWO main Rivers as my case study. They are:

• The Warri River
• The Ekpan River

THE WARRI RIVER

The Warri River flows through the adjourning mangrove swamp forest area of the southern part of Nigeria, where the drainage and catchment areas are probably very rich in decaying organic matter and humus. The Warri River stretches within latitude 5° 21' - 6° 00' N and longitude 5° 24 - 6° 2' E. 

Its source is around Utagba Uno and runs in a Southwest direction passing between Oviorie and Ovu-inland and southwards at Odiete through Agbarho to Otokutu and Ugbolokposo (Egborge, 2001). It turns southward to Effurun and forms a 'W' between Effurun and Warri. Important land marks in this River stretch are Enerhen, Igbudu, Ovwian and Aladja (steel town), Warri Ports, main Warri market, NNPC Refinery, Globe star, etc.

Looking at the River, it can be observed that the water is murky and thus have low transparency (high turbidity) at the downstream. This obviously will be as a result of the effluents being discharged on a regular basis into the River by the industries, markets, sawmills and probably slaughter houses found to be surrounding it.

It can thus be deduced that the water will incur a higher temperature at recipient points of the discharged wastes. In like manner, the amount of dissolved oxygen at these regions will reduce due to increase in microbial activities, like decomposition, making such regions unfit for the survival of the aquatic life surrounding these regions.

Not only is the River water murky, it is non-aesthetic as debris such as plastic bottles, wraps, etc can be found floating on the surface of the water, as well as open dumps along the banks of some areas.

            And some inhabitants can be found at the banks of the River comfortably committing morbid acts like washing of dirty clothing and other dirty materials, as well as defecating and passing urine, etc into the water.

Research shows that the pH of the Warri River is below 7, that is, it is acidic in nature instead of being alkaline. And from this research, it was discovered that the River is below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limit for safe drinking, especially during the raining season.

Hence, the Warri River water is not potable for drinking as it could have a negative effect on a person's health.

Further Research also shows that due to the varying waste generating activities practiced in different locations, the Warri River is partly brackish in areas where more industries can be found such as locations of NNPC Jetty, Shell Ramp, etc and partly fresh water in regions with less industrial activities such as Agbarho.

THE EKPAN RIVER

The Ekpan River is a slow flowing river in the Western Niger Delta that runs across parts of Delta State. It took its source from Utagba-Uno in Ndokwa LGA and flows to Agbarho, Warri through Ekpan from where it flows through the rainforest belt of Forcados and finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean. The substratum is mainly muddy with fine silt. The entire length of the River lies between latitude 5°30'N of the equator and longitude 5°44'E. The depth of the River varies from 1.5m during the dry months to 3.3m at the peak of the rainy months in August.

Seventy-five percent of the river is fringed with the mangrove trees consisting of mainly the black Mangrove which blossoms during the raining season. The river bank supports rich riparian vegetation.

Once in 2010, the river experienced oil spill believed to have come from neighboring industries and companies resulting in the destruction of over 1,850 large fish ponds, killing millions of fishes thereby resulting in joblessness and financial losses to the farmers.

During its course, it receives huge quantities of sewage both agricultural and industrial runoffs as well as arrays of human impacts from the residents which could impact significantly on the physiochemical characteristics of the River.

It was observed that the River is characteristically turbid due to the various ongoing anthropogenic activities in its surroundings such as farming, sand dredging, lumbering, fish farming, washing, bathing, etc.

It serves as a major drainage channel for the area, receiving domestic and treated industrial waste from Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company as well as other industries around Warri metropolis such as Chevron Nig. Ltd, Niger CAT, Julius Berger, Oando, etc.

Hence, it can be deduced that the dissolved oxygen range would be low, due to the decomposition of effluent received from both the Chevron and Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company and also the high temperature values observed during the period.

The higher fluctuations of dissolved oxygen during dry season than in the rainy season periods could be attributed to the peak of human activities along the catchment area of Ekpan River during this season.

The decomposition of organic matter, metabolic activities of epiphytic organisms could also be responsible for reduced oxygen concentration in the river (Pillai et al., 1982; Uka and Chukwuka, 2007).

Research shows that the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) values (0.57 to 1.33mg/L) are surprisingly low when compared with the activities in and around the river. High decomposition rate is expected since the River serves as a major drainage channel for the area, receiving both domestic and industrial wastes. However, the lotic nature of the river could have contributed to self purification or recovery of the system (Iloba, 2012).

Further Research reveals that there were no much variations in the pH of the River. The result of the mean pH values indicates that Ekpan River was slightly acidic to neutral. It also shows that the alkalinity range of Ekpan River as recorded is lower than that of the Warri River. And that the water meets the WHO water safety standard of TDS not greater than 900mg/L and pH range of 6.5 to 8.5. That is, the River water is potable.

Lower air and water temperature values were recorded during dry season while higher temperature values were recorded during the wet seasons. The low water temperature values recorded during the period of the study was attributed to the rainy season due to the effect of cloud cover, etc. The turbid nature of the River could have contributed to the reduction in temperature due to absorption of heat by the silts.

The differences in the water temperature may significantly favor biological activities of the various life forms in the system because life cycles and population densities of many stream organisms are temperature dependent.

The study revealed that despite the obvious agricultural, urban and industrial developments around the river, the health of the river has not been impaired. However, these activities should be controlled to ensure the protection of the aquatic biota.

CONCLUSION

It has been observed that the discharge of excessive quantities of organic matters is the most widespread form of water pollution in Nigeria and is the major cause of the murky nature of the Rivers. And that so many physico-chemical parameters have been altered and need positive intervention.

The fact that emerged from this study is that level of pollutants in effluents discharged by identified sources (NNPC Jetty, NPA Jetty, main Warri market, DSC Jetty, Shell Ramp/Globestar, Udu bridge/market and Ugbolokposo dredging site) exceeded desired/allowable limits for heavy metals and some physico-chemical parameters especially in fish tissues.

The pollutants implicated to have exceeded stipulated permissible limit in effluent discharged into the River, includes Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), pH, TDS and thermal pollution.

While the Warri River requires intervention to restore its lost quality, the Ekpan River needs to be carefully monitored to retain and sustain its current condition so that its water quality doesn't deteriorate.

REFERENCES

• Journal of Environmental Issues and Agriculture in Developing Countries, Vol. 3, No.2 August 2011: Physico-chemical Characteristics of Warri River in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria by Aghoghovwia, O. A, 40-46.
• International Journal of Applied Biological Research 2014: Physico-Chemical Characteristics and Zooplankton of Ekpan River, Delta State, Nigeria by Iloba, K. I. and Ruejoma, M. G. O.
• WHO (1984). Guideline for Drinking water Quality. Health Criteria and Supporting Information 2, 63-315.