Seasonal Assessment of the Physicochemical Characteristics and Heavy Metal Contamination of Agangwu Stream, Enugu North Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65336/WJMS.2026.3803Keywords:
Heavy metals, Physicochemical, water quality, wet season, dry seasonAbstract
Stream has been a source of drinking water in most settlements, the occurrence of physicochemical parameters and heavy metals above the permissible standards make it unsafe for drinking and other recreational purposes. An investigation was carried out on the Seasonal Assessment of the Physicochemical Characteristics and Heavy Metal Contamination of Agangwu Stream, Enugu North Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Eighteen (18) stream water samples were collected, six (6) from the upstream, six (6) from midstream and six (6) from downstream locations during both wet and dry seasons. They were subjected to a wide range of analytical assessments to determine the impact of seasonal variations on the water quality and potential public health risks. Some of the physicochemical parameters determined showed statistically significant seasonal variation. Temperature was significantly higher in the dry season (31.00 + 3.606oC) compared to the rainy season (25.00 + 0.000oC) with P=0.045. pH values were acidic across both seasons but showed a significant increase during the rainy season (6.133 + 0.091oC) relative to the dry season (5.673 + 0.266oC), P = 0.047. TSS also increased markedly from 9.733 + 0.929 mg/l in the dry season to 16.367 + 0.987 mg/l in the wet season, with P = 0.001, exceeding WHO’s permissible limit of 10mg/l. similarly, TDS levels increased from 4.173 + 0.162mg/l to 6.210 + 0.215mg/l (P=0.000), while phosphate concentrations declined significantly from 5.933 + 0.902 mg/l in the dry season to 3.133 + 0.611 mg/l in the rainy season (P=0.011). Iron content was notably higher in the dry season (2.811 + 0.246mg/l) than in the rainy season (2.151 + 0.110mg/l), p=0.013, far exceeding the WHO limit of 0.3mg/L. Other parameters such as nitrate, chloride, sulphate, calcium, sodium and manganese also varied between seasons but remained within WHO guidelines.
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