Chemometric Analysis of Physico-Chemical Parameters and Heavy Metals Accumulation in Bosso Dam, Minna

Abstract

Water quality is important the protection of humans and marine ecosystems. Over the past two decades, considerable attention has been given to heavy metals in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems because they can be accumulated by biota and at high concentrations are potentially toxic. Traditional biological indices or direct measurements of water quality, which are based on in situ data collection are often spatially or temporally limited. On the other hand, the complexity of information requires new analysis techniques that allow for identification of the components and possible causes of spatial and temporal variability. Bosso dam is a major source of water for both domestic and agricultural purposes in Minna metropolis. In this study, the concentration of toxic heavy metals such as Pb, Ni, Mn, Zn, Cd, Cu and Cr were determined in water from Bosso dam during wet season. One hundred water samples were collected and homogenized into ten composite samples. Water and sediment samples were digested according to the method described by Türkmen and Ciminli (2007). Techniques of Chemometrics such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Hierarchical Component Analysis (HCA) and Correlation Analysis (CA) were used to analyze pollution data sets from heavy metal determination and assessment of the physicochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, turbidity, Si, conductivity, NO3 - -N , NH 4 + –N, NO -2 –N of water. Pb was below detection limits while Cr was detected at a value of 0.02mg/l and 0.01mg/l for Cd, Zinc, Cu, Ni, Mn in the water samples. Application of PCA and CA helped to identify the underlying pollution sources and signature at the monitoring site.