Water Quality Assessment of the Kwa River, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria: Implications for Naval Operations, Amphibious Training, and Civil Engineering Construction
Keywords:
Kwa River, Calabar, water quality, naval base, amphibious training, civil engineering construction, concrete water, river pollution, Cross River State, Nigeria, infrastructure durability, construction materialsAbstract
This study presents a water quality assessment of the Kwa River in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, focused on a sampling location near the Nigerian Naval Base and Amphibious Training School. The river serves two functions of direct engineering interest: military training, including amphibious exercises and personnel water-survival training, and civil engineering construction water supply for concrete production, soil compaction, equipment cooling, and dust suppression at infrastructure sites across Calabar municipality. A composite water sample was analysed for physical, chemical, and microbial parameters and compared against Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) limits for potable water and, separately, against widely cited construction-water benchmarks. The results show an acidic pH of 5.00, turbidity of 29.40 NTU (488% above the 5 NTU screening limit), nitrite at 0.21 mg/L, total coliform at 18 CFU/100 mL, and dissolved oxygen of 2.82 mg/L, all outside their respective NIS limits. A companion hydrographic survey established six spatial reference points (P1-P6) around the sampling location, providing elevation and coordinate control that helps explain probable pollutant-transport pathways and lays the groundwork for a spatially resolved monitoring programme. Screening-level indices computed from the chemistry - an Aggressiveness Index of 7.4 (classified as highly aggressive water), a turbidity-based pollution index of 488%, and a sulfate-acidity ratio of 8.73 - indicate that the water is chemically unsuited to direct use as concrete mixing or curing water without treatment, though this study stops short of the mortar and concrete performance testing that would be required to confirm the magnitude of any resulting deterioration. The findings point to compound implications for military operations, construction durability, public health, and aquatic ecosystem integrity, and they support a recommendation for water treatment, replicate and seasonal monitoring, and confirmatory concrete-performance testing before the river is relied upon as a construction water source.
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