Spatial Temporal Variation of Selected Water Quality Parameters along River Sosiani, Uasin Gishu County

Abstract

Surface water is a vulnerable resourceto pollution onthe earth surface due to the deterioration of its quality attributed to diverse sources of pollution. Thispaper sought to assess the spatial and temporal water quality variation alongRiver Sosiani.Understanding of the spatial-temporaldistribution of pollutants and identification of the sources in the river systems is a requirementfor the protection and sustainable utilization of the global water resources.The objectives of the study were:determinethe spatial variabilityin water quality and inferthe main pollution factors. Thewater quality data were collected during theperiod (2013–2015)from eleven sampling stations distributedonthe river quarterly alongthe RiverSosiani.The water quality parameterssampled included;total dissolved solids(TDS), Phosphates (Po4), Sulphates(so4-2), Nitrates (NO3-) andpH. Descriptive statistical techniques of primary data were used to investigate the temporal and spatial variations of the water quality.The results showed that there were variations in water quality characteristics mainly relatedto non-point source contamination which would include; domestic,industrial wastewater and municipalandpoint sources of contamination ofwaste water originating from lagoons.Conclusively, this study showed that the water quality of River Sosiani is deteriorated and thereforepotentially unsafeforhumanuseand highlighted the need to treat industrial and municipal wastewater and encourage sound agricultural practices.