CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Water (H2O) is a transparent fluid which forms the world’s streams, lakes, oceans
and rain, and is the major constituent of the fluids of organisms(Shiff, 2009). As a
chemical compound, a water molecule contains one oxygen and two
hydrogenatoms that are connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at standard
ambient temperature and pressure, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid
state, ice; and gaseous state, steam (water vapor)(Chandiwana. 2006). It also exists
as snow, fog, dew and cloud.
Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. It is vital for all known forms of life. On
Earth, 96.5% of the planet’s crust water is found in seas and oceans, 1.7% in
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groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a
small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds
(formed of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and precipitation(Shiff, 2009).
Only 2.5% of this water is freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in ice (excepting
ice in clouds) and groundwater(Chandiwana. 2006). Less than 0.3% of all
freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of
the Earth’s freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological bodies and
manufactured products. A greater quantity of water is found in the earth’s interior.
Water on Earth moves continually through the water cycle of evaporation and
transpiration (evapotranspiration), condensation, precipitation, and runoff, usually
reaching the seaShiff, C.J. 2009. Evaporation and transpiration contribute to the
precipitation over land. Water used in the production of a good or service is known
as virtual water.
Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other lifeforms even though it
provides no calories or organicnutrients(Garfield2003). Access to safe drinking
water has improved over the last decades in almost every part of the world, but
approximately one billion people still lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion
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lack access to adequate sanitation(Shiff, 2009). There is a clear correlation between
access to safe water and gross domestic product per capita. However, some
observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will
be facing water-based vulnerability.A report, issued in November 2009, suggests
that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water demand will exceed
supply by 50%.(Garfield2003) Water plays an important role in the world
economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and
facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of the
freshwater used by humans goes to agriculture(Shiff, 2009).
1.1 STUDY AREA
This study was carried out onTotowu and KandeRiver in Igbesa, Ogun State, Ado
Odo, Ota Local Government Area.
1.2 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The river was chosen due to frequent patronage for;
transportation
swimming
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fetching of water for consumption
house hold shores
Hence microbial and physiochemical analysis is carried out on Totowu and Kande
river of Igbesa Ogun state to investigate whether the water from this streams are
safe for the above purpose.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study would reveal the microbiological and physiological parameter in
Totowu and Kande River respectively. Hence elucidate the safety and danger
associated with water.
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY
This research focuses on the microbiological and physiological analysis of Igbesa
streams (TOTOWU AND KANDE RIVER)
1.5 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Due to time constraint and indigenous believes ,frequent sampling was restricted as
such multiple analyses was impossible likewise poor finance and poor agricultural
practices around the study area.
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1.6 DEFINITION OF TERM
Brook
A stream smaller than a creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep.
It is usually small and easily forded. A brook is characterised by its
shallowness and its bed being composed primarily of rocks.
Creek
In North America, Australia and New Zealand, a small to mediumsized natural stream. Sometimes navigable by motor craft and may be
intermittent.
In parts of Maryland, New England, the UK and India, a tidalinlet,
typically in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp, or between enclosed
and drained former salt marshes or swamps (e.g. Port Creek
separating Portsea Island from the mainland). In these cases, the
stream is the tidal stream, the course of the seawater through the creek
channel at low and high tide.
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River
A large natural stream, which may be a waterway.
Runnel
The linear channel between the parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach
or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore.Also called a swale.
Tributary
A contributory stream or a stream which does not reach the sea but joins
another river (a parent river). Sometimes also called a branch or fork
Bar
A shoal that develops in a stream as sediment is deposited as the current
slows or is impeded by wave action at the confluence.
Bifurcation
A fork into two or more streams.
Channel
A depression created by constant erosion that carries the stream’s flow.
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Confluence
The point at which the two streams merge. If the two tributaries are of
approximately equal size, the confluence may be called a fork.
Floodplain
Lands adjacent to the stream that are subject to flooding when a stream
overflows its banks.
Gauging station
A point of demarcation along the route of a stream or river, used for
reference marking or water monitoring.
Headwaters
The part of a stream or river proximate to its source. The word is most
commonly used in the plural where there is no single point source.
Knickpoint
The point on a stream’s profile where a sudden change in stream gradient
occurs.
Mouth
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The point at which the stream discharges, possibly via an estuary or delta,
into a static body of water such as a lake or ocean.
Pool
A segment where the water is deeper and slower moving.
Riffle
A segment where the flow is shallower and more turbulent.
River
A large natural stream, which may be a waterway.
Run
A somewhat smoothly flowing segment of the stream.
Source
The spring from which the stream originates, or other point of origin of a
stream.
Spring
The point at which a stream emerges from an underground course through
unconsolidated sediments or through caves. A stream can, especially with
caves, flow aboveground for part of its course, and underground for part of
its course.
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