Assessment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Water and Sediments at Drainage Discharge Points into the New Calabar River, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Keywords:
Concentration, Water, Sediment, Drainage, DischargeAbstract
This research on the assessment of total petroleum hydrocarbon concentration in water and sediment at a drainage discharge point in New Calabar River. The study used four designated sample points where water and sediments were collected within the river at drainage discharge points while one of the stations was the control which does not have drainage system. After appropriate laboratory methods have been applied on the samples, extraction for TPH was performed using solvent extraction with dichloromethane then followed by column chromatography clean up. Agilent 5890 Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) was used to detect TPH levels at the designated stations. The mean levels of TPH during the period in surface water ranged from 8.819±2.033 to 11.149±1.875 mg/L while that from the control was 5.856±0.543 mg/L. In the sediments mean concentrations of TPH samples ranged from 25.592±4.613 to 28.075±5.671 mg/Kg while that of the control station was 17.590±3.316. The mean concentrations of TPH in water were slightly above the DPR and WHO requirements for drinking water while that of sediments were below the required limit by DPR and FME. The results indicated that the drainage discharge points contributed to the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the New Calabar River. Profiling and fingerprinting of TPH fractions identified sources from natural, biogenic and anthropogenic origin. The government and other relevant agencies should bring out measures that can cushion the effects posed by the drainages into the river.
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