Evaluation of Suitability of Omambala River in Anaku Community for Aquaculture Production

Abstract— Background and Objectives: Water quality is the most important factor affecting fish health and performance in aquaculture production. This research was therefore carried out to evaluate the suitability of Omambala river in Anaku community for aquaculture purposes. Materials and Methods: Physicochemical properties, heavy metals and biological parameters were assessed to determine the suitability of the river water for aquaculture production using three different sampling stations. Data obtained were compared with the permissible limit of World Health Organization. Analytical tools used were T-test and ANOVA with SPSS Version 20. Results: The study revealed that the physiochemical parameters and heavy metal concentration were in the range of temperature, 27.33±0.57oC, turbidity, 49.80±5.70cm, nitrate, 1.06.00±0.52mg/l, Ammonia, 0.53±0.03mg/l, pH, 6.77±0.06, Dissolved oxygen, 9.33±0.57mg/l, lead, 0.123±0.015ppm, cadmium, 0.133±0.003ppm, mercury, 0.861±0.101ppm, zinc, 0.518±0.03ppm and iron, 7.436±0.58ppm. This study revealed that the physicochemical parameters were within tolerable limit except nitrate while the heavy metals were above the tolerable limits except zinc. There were abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton in Omambala river. Conclusion: Omambala river in Anaku fishing community is suitable for aquaculture purposes when properly treated to reduce high concentrations of heavy metals and it is recommended that proper environmental impact assessment of industrial, domestic and anthropogenic effluents into Omambala river be carried out to establish adequate detoxification measures