Assessment of the Water Quality Index of River Ethiope for Drinking Water Purposes in Southern Nigeria

The main purpose of the study is to assess the quality of water from River Ethiope for drinking water purposes by communities located along its course in Southern Nigeria. Water samples were collected on a daily basis from three designated points along the course of the river. The water samples were analyzed based on the standard methods recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit for drinking water quality. The following physico-chemical and biological parameters, TSS, TDS, TOC, THC, COD, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, nitrate, ammonia, chloride and fecal coliform were assessed using the water quality index (WQI) of the Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment. The calculated value of the Water Quality Index (WQI) of River Ethiope of 36.84 indicates that the quality of water from River Ethiope is impaired and threatened by such parameters as turbidity, DO, BOD, coliform, magnesium, lead, TSS, TOC and THC. The study is therefore of importance to water resources development and also to the Ministry of Health, to help ascertain the quality of river water for human consumption in order to protect the health of the people