WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN AKPABUYO, CROSS RIVER BASIN, SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA

A baseline study involving analyses of surface and subsurface water sa mples from the Akpabuyo area was carried out in order to assess their suitability for drinking, domestic and agricultural purposes. Study re sults show that the waters are acidic (3.41 less than or equal to pH l ess than or equal to 6.28), soft (hardness 2.09-10.68 mg/l as CaCO3), fresh (conductivity <1400 mu s/cm) and characterised by low sodium ads orption ratio, SAR (0.08-0.59). In addition, the mean values of the ma jor cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) and anions (SO42-, Cl-, HCO3-) are a ll within the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Taking all th is into consideration (except pH), the waters may be regarded as excel lent for drinking, domestic and agricultural purposes. On the basis of regression equations, the major cations (K, Na, Ca, Mg) correlate wel l with conductivity. Finally, results also show that four chemical fac ies are delineated. These include Ca-Cl, Na-Cl, Ca-SO4 and Ca-HCO3.