Water quality assessment of Minkoameyos and Municipal lakes in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the water quality in the lakes of Yaoundé, Cameroon, for environmental monitoring and human health. The water quality of two lakes were measured and statistical analyses of obtained data revealed an average temperature value of 28.8 ± 0.59 and 26.63 ± 0.38 °C, pH of 7.09 ± 0.23 and 7.47 ± 0.24, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) of 186.2 ± 33.05 and 90.72 ± 69.31 mV, resistivity (ρ) of 283.18 ± 45.56 and 40.17 ± 1.64 KΩ, electrical conductivity (EC) of 50.4 ± 6.38 and 341 ± 13.17 μS cm⁻¹, and total dissolved solids (TDS) of 25.6 ± 2.88 and 170.45 ± 6.48 ppm in Minkoameyos and Municipal lakes respectively. Dihydrogen (H₂), salinity (S), specific gravity (SG) and nutrient fertility (NF) of the water gave constant values during all measurements. While some measured parameters indicated that the water in these lakes was suitable, the water quality index for Minkoameyos Lake was 74 indicating that the water was poor and that of Municipal Lake was 88 indicating that the water quality was very poor. The overall assessment of this study indicates that the water from both lakes is useful for agricultural irrigation and industrial use but requires a lot of treatment prior to human consumption.