WATER POLLUTION MODELLING OF THE RIVER BENUE IN THE REACH OF MAKURDI TOWN

Abstract

A reach of River Benue (in Makurdi), one of the two major rivers in Nigeria was monitored for a period of seven months traversing dry and rainy seasons of the year for pollution modelling. The process of field sampling, laboratory analysis, and regression modelling of flow depth and pollutants concentration revealed the following: (i) pollution in River Benue is influenced by natural regimes such as rainfall and discharges. Physical and chemical pollutants increased with rainfall while microbial pollution is inversely proportional to rainfall; (ii) microbial pollution of the river is more severe than physical and chemical pollution and has more effect on public health; (iii) unlike time, there is no trend in degree of pollution with respect to space; (iv) a positive non-linear relationship exists between water related diseases in Makurdi and coliform organisms in the river; (v) non-linear models for physical and chemical pollutants and; (vi) linear and polynomial models for flow depth and water pollutants. The models yielded values of coefficients of correlation ranging form 0_8537 0.9994 implying good fitting. The regression models are reliable for monitoring and prediction of water quality in this area, with both cost and time saving advantages.