Application of Markov Chain Model and ArcGIS in Land Use Projection of Ala River Catchment, Akure, Nigeria

Increase land use change is one of the consequences of rapid population growth of cities in developing countries with its negative consequences on the environment. This study generates previous and present land use of Ala watershed and project the future land use using Markov chain model and ArcGIS software (version 10.2.1). Landsat 7, Enhanced Thematic mapper plus (ETM+) image and Landsat 8 operational land imager (OLI) with path 190 and row 2 used to generate land use (LU) and land cover (LC) images for the years 2000, 2010 and 2019. Six LU/LC classes were considered as follows: developed area (DA), open soil (OS), grass surface (GS), light forest (LF), wetland (WL) and hard rock (HR). Markov chain analysis was used in predicting LU/LC types in the watershed for the years 2029 and 2039. The veracity of the model was tested with Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency index (NSE) and Percent Bias methods. The model results show that the study area is growing rapidly particularly in the recent time. This urban expansion results in significant decrease of WL coverage areas and the significant increase of DA. This implies reduction in the available land for dry season farming and incessant flood occurrence. Keywords: Land cover, land use change, Markov chain, ArcGIS, watershed, urbanizatio

Health Risk Assessment of Groundwater in Omu-Aran, Nigeria

Pollution of groundwater by bathroom, laundry and kitchen effluent has been documented to have non-desirable health and environmental effects. There is little information about the quality of groundwater and associated health effects in Omu-Aran. The present research therefore meets the need to investigate the levels of heavy metals, the pollution effects, and the long term human health risk effect on local inhabitants in Omu-Aran. Thirty water samples were collected from five hand dug wells (HWs) in different parts of Omu-Aran spanning a period of three months and the heavy metal parameters were determined using standard protocol. The non-carcinogenic risk was evaluated using hazard index (HI) according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) risk assessment method. Data analysis were carried out by the use of descriptive statistics. From the result, mean values and SD of heavy metals in the water samples obtained from selected HWs ranged from 0.16 ± 0.13 to 0.29 ± 0.18 mg/L, 0.29 ± 0.02 to 1.36 ± 0.07 mg/L, 0.00 ± 0.00 to 0.72 ± 0.04 mg/L, 0.00 ± 0.00 to 0.51 ± 0.09 mg/L, 0.01 ± 0.01 to 5.26 ± 0.07 mg/L, and from 0.03 ± 0.01 to 12.96 ± 2.82 mg/L for Al, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, and Zn respectively. The heavy metals were all above the WHO limits except Pb and Fe. The hazard index values ranged from 1.406 to 10.075 indicating significant non-carcinogenic risk. The findings of the study, has shown that there is considerable amount of heavy metal pollution which stems from anthropogenic sources. There was no observable risk via dermal pathways based on hazard quotient values while non-carcinogenic risk via ingestion was observed for all the locations. There is therefore a need to bring awareness to the community for the purpose of ensuring safety of its active water sources

Principal component analysis of groundwater sources pollution in Omu‑Aran Community, Nigeria

Most developing countries rely on water sources that are usually not protected making them unsafe for drinking. It is impera�tive to ensure regular assessment and proper monitoring to evaluate their quality and ensure they meet standards before use. This study was aimed at identifying pollution sources of groundwater in the study area of Omu-Aran and assessing the wáter quality under varying temporal conditions. Ninety-six groundwater samples were collected from eight locations during the dry and wet seasons of 2019–2020. These samples were examined for water quality parameters (n=10) using standard methods. The study adopted the use of principal component analysis (PCA), water quality index (WQI) and independent sample t test to analyze water pollution sources, fully assess water quality and examine temporal variations in the sampling stations respectively. The mean values for measured parameters all fall within the Nigerian Standard Drinking Water Quality guideline values with the exception of pH, nitrite, dissolved oxygen and T. coliform. This pollution was attributed to sewage pollution arising from anthropogenic sources. Water quality decreased during rainy season as compared to the dry season with signifcant diferences (P<0.05) between these periods except for pH, total hardness and fuoride. WQI ranged from 28.17 to 108.15 which lies on the “good” to “unsuitable for drinking” spectrum. Three latent factors were extracted for both the wet and dry seasons from measured parameters by means of PCA. They explain natural pollution and soil erosion phenomenom due to seasonal changes while organic matter oxidation and mineral dissolution are also identifed as factors that afect the water quality in the study area. In conclusion, the study has been able to integrate the use of PCA and WQI to analyse recorded data for pollution source identifcation and water quality interpretation in the study area. Regular assessment and proper monitoring to evaluate the quality of these sources should be done in order to ensure they meet standards before use. Users should be encouraged to carry out disinfection and ensure their water sources are protected and not left exposed

Water and sanitation in Nigeria: a case study of Ondo State

Water and sanitation have been recognized as critical to ensure good quality of life. This paper examines the existing water supply and sanitation in Ondo State, Nigeria with a view to determine the extent of deficiency and what will be required to meet the Millennium Development Goals that seeks to halve the Population of the State without access to safe Water and Sanitation in 2015. The data utilized in this research were obtained from a systematic survey of household’s characteristic, indicators of accessibility to safe water, sources, quality and quantity of available water and sanitation service in the state. The basic data set for the paper was collected using a well-structured questionnaire administered randomly on some selected households of some communities within each Local Government Area of the State. This research reveals that majority of residents of the state do not have access to pipe borne water and sanitary facilities that could ensure good quality of life. It is recommended that aggressive re-invigoration of government agency responsible for water supply and sanitation should be carried out.Keywords: water, sanitation, accessibility, Millennium Development Goa

A case study on the status of water supply for domestic purposes in akure, ondo state, Nigeria

Domestic water supply is a daily necessity and key factor in human health and well being. Without water, life cannot be sustained and lack of access to adequate water supplies leads to wide spread of diseases with children bearing the greatest health burden associated with poor water quality and sanitation. The WHO estimated in 2004 that every eight seconds, a child died from water – related diseases and that each year more than five million people died from illness linked to unsafe drinking water or inadequate sanitation. This brief study attempts to assess various sources of water supply for domestic usage in Akure, the Ondo State capital to establish their level of adequacy in quantity and quality. For data collection, the town was divided into seven zones based on urbanization and population distribution. Using simple proportion analysis, the result shows that 51% of the population relied on well water for their domestic use while 28.35% combine tap water with well water and 12.37% depends on borehole. 5.6% also relied on combine tap water and boreholes. The remaining 2.57% uses tap water and spring. Government-supplied tap water is grossly inadequate to meet the domestic water demand of the community and individual households are making concerted efforts to meet their water needs through the use of hand dug wells with poor hygiene practice. Results of physiochemical test carried out on some randomly selected well water samples show that most of the tested physical and chemical parameters fall within Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) permissible limits. However, biological test carried out using number of colonies count per 100 ml revealed that all the sampled wells are not fit for drinking. Strategies to enhance optimum utilization of groundwater within Akure metropolis were proposed with sustainable management system. The result of this research work will be useful in the planning of urban water scheme to alleviate people sufferings and help water planners in meeting their social responsibility.Keywords: Water supply, water use, ground water quality, developing countrie

Improvement on the fabrication of SiC materials: Processing, reinforcing phase, fabricating route—A review

Abstracts: The ceaseless exploration for the improvement of ceramic materials has created a lot of techniques, all aimed at producing ceramic materials that can withstand environmental conditions and other factors. Most of thecommon techniques have their advantages and drawbacks. Some of the techniques involve the addition of a reinforcing phase to monolithic ceramic, the application of diverse sintering routes for the fabrication of ceramic products, and the preparatory methods for producing powder materials which cannot be jettisoned. These processes have been evaluated to influence the final ceramic products. Undoped/monolithic/single-phase ceramic has had some limitations in its processing, densification, and mechanical properties limiting its wide application in all circumstances. Hence, the incorporation of reinforcing phase, which can sometimes be called the secondary phase in the ceramic matrix, has significantly evolved into one of the possible means to nullify these challenges posed by undoped ceramics. This review consciously highlights and pinpoints all routes that have been taken to improve the properties of undoped SiC via the introduction of reinforcing phase, processing techniques, sintering techniques, etc. Finally, the possible prospects for future directions, advancement, and opportunities in the production of ceramic materials are concluded

Bacteria removal efficiency data and properties of Nigerian clay used as ahousehold ceramic waterfilter

The research was aimed at producing a cost-effective ceramicfilter for the removal of bacteria in wastewaterusing locally sourced materials. Clay from several locations in Ekiti state, Nigeria was mixed with sawdust(combustible material) to form a ceramicfilter. The results showed that the 50%–50% ratio of Igbara odo clay tosawdust was the most effective and optimum mix. This was in terms of aflow rate of 1.9 L/hour, removal effi-ciencies of 80% and 100% for coliform andE. colibacteria respectively