Pollution and Self Purification Studies of River Romi, Chikun Local Government Area Kaduna State

Angwan Romi is a place in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in Nigeria at 10°25’48” north of the equator and 7°25’12” east of the Greenwich Prime .

Romi River is a body of running water moving to a lower level in a channel on land. It is on Latitude 10.45 decimal degrees, Longitude 7.37 decimal , DMS Latitude 10° 27 min 0 sec, DMS Longitude7° 22 min 0.012 sec. Universal Mercator (UTM): LS25.

The people living in Angwan Romi village and environ use the water of River Romi to their daily water demand which has not been met by government.

The study covered a distance of 15Km from the point of effluent from the Kaduna Refining Petrochemical Company to the point of outflow into the River Kaduna.

The number of sampling points was four with six different samples collected for each, with composite sampling at site 1 employed.

Introduction

1.1 Background of Study

Rivers have many tributaries that may spare them from pollution as much as possible. Rivers provide a myriad of in-stream and consumptive uses; they support flora and fauna, improve aesthetic and landscape quality,

moderate climate and even generate hydropower. However many rivers are not able to provide some of these because of pollution.

The primary objective of water quality monitoring is to deliver clean safe water. Water is essential to sustain life, and a satisfactory (adequate, safe and accessible) supply should be available to all.

Seven people died and twenty three hundred people became ill in the town of Walkerton, Ontario in May of 2000 because the drinking water became contaminated with a lethal strain of bacteria.

This tragedy cost the government of Ontario $65 million to conduct the inquiry. The loss of life and suffering is estimated at an additional $91 million with costs totaling more than $156 million.

This tragedy could have been prevented with an effective water quality monitoring program that included the use of continuous water quality surveillance Colin N Perkel (2002).

References

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Buchanan T.J., and Somers W.P., (1969). Discharge Measurements at Gaging Stations:U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 3, Chapter A8, 1p.
Chapra and Canale (2006). Numerical Methods for Engineers, 5^th Ed. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Chehalis River Council (2008). Water Quality Monitoring Plan for a potential project on Waddell Creek in Thurston County.
Carol Bordin, Chehalis River Council, (1996) Water Quality Monitoring Funded by a grant from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Edited and published by the Chehalis River Council, January 1997
Colin N Perkel(2002) in McClelland and Stewart. Well of Lies: The Walkerton Water Tragedy. Russell Books Ltd(2002) – British Columbia, Canada