IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v30y2010i2d10.1007_s10669-010-9254-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nutrient chemistry of the Densu River in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • J. R. Fianko

    (NNRI/GAEC)

  • S. T. Lowor

    (Cocoa Research Institute)

  • A. Donkor

    (University of Ghana)

  • P. O. Yeboah

    (University of Ghana)

Abstract

The impact of anthropogenic activities on the fluctuation of nutrients along the Densu River and its tributaries was studied. High concentrations of nutrients were observed in the study area but the river was found to be circumneutral and fresh with pH ranging between 6.54 and 7.84. The levels of NH4 +–N ranged between 0.21 and 2.1 mg L−1 with mean concentration of 1.19 ± 0.02 mg L−1 while that of nitrate is between 0.13 and 5.21 mg L−1 with a mean concentration of 2.07 ± 0.01 mg L−1. The levels of PO4 3−–P fluctuated within the range 0.54 and 1.04 mg L−1 with a mean of 0.84 ± 0.01 mg L−1. The Densu River Basin was also found to be with organic matter with depleted dissolved oxygen. The river recorded high BOD values ranging from 6.91 to 18.8 mg L−1. Concentration of nutrients and organic pollutants increased as a consequence of anthropogenic inputs particularly from domestic, agricultural and municipal sources. The highly impaired sites were those located close to the urbanized, agricultural and high-density residential areas. The relatively high concentration of nitrate and phosphate in the river indicated that it was quite eutrophic.

Suggested Citation

  • J. R. Fianko & S. T. Lowor & A. Donkor & P. O. Yeboah, 2010. "Nutrient chemistry of the Densu River in Ghana," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 145-152, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:30:y:2010:i:2:d:10.1007_s10669-010-9254-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-010-9254-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-010-9254-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10669-010-9254-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:30:y:2010:i:2:d:10.1007_s10669-010-9254-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.