How Water Shapes Fish Life: Bigaan River’s Impact on Freshwater Diversity | InformativeBD

Gina C Lacang, from the institute of Philippines. Alma N Abug, from the institute of Philippines and Horacio Emmanuel S Factura, from the institute of Philippines.  wrote a Research article about, How Water Shapes Fish Life: Bigaan River’s Impact on Freshwater Diversity. Entitled, Effects of physico-chemical characteristics of Bigaan River to the species richness and distribution of freshwater Ichthyofauna. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES. an open access scholarly research journal on Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the physicochemical characteristics of Bigaan River and determine species richness and distribution of Ichthyofauna. Water samples were collected from three sampling sites of Brgy. Gango, Brgy. Indahag and Brgy. Cugman using grab sampling method during the wet season to determine water quality parameters namely: Total Solids, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Conductivity, Density, Redox Potential (ORP), pH, Salinity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Nitrates, Potassium, Phosphate, and Mercury while other parameters were measured onsite namely: Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), and Flowrate. The collection of fish species was done using purposive sampling. The findings of the study revealed that all physicochemical parameters have not exceeded the given standard values of DAO 2016-08. Results also showed significant differences in the parameters: total dissolved solids and turbidity. There were five identified Ichthyofauna species present in Bigaan River and it showed low diversity. Puntius binotatus is the most abundant species and Oreochromis niloticus is the least number of Ichthyofauna species. The Ichthyofauna species richness and distribution identified in Bigaan River have different tolerance on water quality. Some species were tolerant and sensitive to the water quality fluctuations and they were absent in a particular area. Although Bigaan River is within the acceptable level for Class C waters according to DAO-2016-08; however, water quality in Bigaan River limits the condition of Ichthyofauna species survival and growth because it was disrupted by sudden changes in the water quality.

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Introduction

Prominent anthropogenic activity that influences the water quality is mining. Mining involves exploration and removing of minerals from the earth, this process of removing precious metals from the ore use some heavy metals like mercury in amalgamation process which resulted in contamination of riverine system. Mercury contamination on freshwater from mining may cause by tailing ponds that overflow and runoff’ into the surface of water. Mercury is persistent, bioaccumulative and it is known to bio-magnify through aquatic food chains causing deleterious environmental effects (Powell, 2009). When mercury gets into water, bacterial activity can change into a form of methyl mercury which can be absorbed by aquatic organisms. It may affect the distribution and richness of species on freshwater organisms, like fishes and macroinvertebrates. Fish are the most diverse group of vertebrates with more than 30,000 species worldwide (Desidera et al., 2019). It can be found in every underwater habitat such as marine and freshwater. Freshwater fishes are the most threatened group of vertebrates based on more than 5,000 species assessed by the IUCN (Reid et al., 2013). In other words, water quality of a river may affect the growth, survival, and biodiversity of fish on the water.

Bigaan River is one of the seven rivers traversing across the city of Cagayan de Oro (Canencia & Gomez, 2016). Many people depend on Bigaan River because they use it for washing their clothes, bathing and even for their daily food consumption such as fish. The river is now surrounded by communities with high populations (Walag & Canencia, 2016). Population growth can increase the deterioration rate of the Bigaan River on its excessive use and dumping of the waste directly or indirectly into the river. Unfortunately, jeopardizing the water quality can affect living aquatic organisms such as fish. Freshwater fish in the Bigaan River are edible. Many of the local people use them for daily consumptions. In the light of these scenarios, the researchers assessed the physicochemical characteristics of the Bigaan River and the species richness and distribution of freshwater fish. Previous researches conducted were about the accumulation of mercury on fishes but there was no study related to the diversity of fishes, specifically on its species richness and distribution affected by water quality in the Bigaan River. The main objective of this study is to assess the physicochemical characteristics of the Bigaan River during wet season and determine the effects of the water quality on the species richness and distribution of freshwater fish. Specifically, it: i.) determines the physicochemical characteristics of Bigaan River; ii.) compares the measured water quality parameters with DENR (DAO-2016-08) standards; iii.) assess if there is a significant difference in the measured values of water parameters between sampling periods and among sampling sites, and iv.) determines the Ichthyofauna species richness and distribution of the river.

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Article source : Effects of physico-chemical characteristics of Bigaan River to the species richness and distribution of freshwater Ichthyofauna  

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Assessing Physicochemical and Heavy Metal Levels in Drinking Water of San Francisco, Agusan del Su | InformativeBD

Kevin Hope Z. Salvaña,  Romeo M. Del Rosario, and  Angelo Mark P. Walag, from the different institute of Philippines. wrote a Reseach Article about, Assessing Physicochemical and Heavy Metal Levels in Drinking Water of San Francisco, Agusan del Su. Entitled, Physicochemical properties and heavy metal concentrations in the drinking water of San Francisco, Agusan Del Sur, Philippines. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES). an open access scholarly research journal on Biodiversity. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Concerned about the safety of public drinking water supply, this study delved into the drinking water system in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Philippines. There were two areas of concern in this study: the physicochemical properties which include alkalinity, conductivity, pH, salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness, total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity; and the heavy metal contaminants which include cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, and nickel. The physicochemical properties and chemical contaminants present in both untreated and treated water were described based on their measured levels and were evaluated using the PNSDW 2017 and WHO-GDWQ. The findings showed that there is a decrease of levels in conductivity, TSS, turbidity, and manganese after the water treatment. The levels of total hardness at 303.02 mg/L fail to conform to the PNSDW 2017 and WHO-GDWQ standards while the rest of the physicochemical properties (alkalinity, conductivity, pH, salinity, TDS, total hardness, TSS, and turbidity) are under the maximum allowable level (MAL). The levels of Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese, and Nickel are lower than the MAL value of the PNSDW 2017 and WHO-GDWQ. Manganese, which has no health-associated risk but might affect water acceptability, is measured at 0.008 mg/L and is lower than the MAL at 0.4000 mg/L in both standards. Generally, the water is not acceptable for drinking due to high levels of total hardness. Other mandatory parameters for microbiological quality are recommended to determine the suitability of the drinking water for human consumption.

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Introduction

Drinking water quality is one of the greatest factors affecting human health. However, the quality of the drinking water in many nations, particularly those that are developing, is not ideal, and this has led to an increase in the number of waterborne illnesses (Li and Wu, 2019).

Water pollution (surface and ground) may be considered as a naturally induced change in water quality or conditions induced directly by man’s numerous activities which render it unsuitable for food, human health, industry, agriculture, or leisure per suit (Dix, 1981). Toxic chemicals in water pose the greatest threat to the safety of drinking water and their effects are enormous and can cause damage to human health, crops, and aquatic organisms.

Synthetic chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides as well as fertilizer runoffs from agricultural farmlands and industrial discharge have the potential to impact negatively on human health since they block vital metabolic processes in the body. Runoffs from domestic houses, solid waste dumps, and commercial establishments may contain detergents and nutrients, which causes algae blooms in water bodies leading to eutrophication. Human waste excreta may contain a concentrated population of bacteria, pathogenic bacteria in untreated sewage, and may cause acute gastrointestinal illness. This phenomenon has rendered most surface water bodies polluted (Anim et al., 2010; Osei and Duker, 2008; Asante et al., 2008).

In the Philippines, water contamination of the surface water is due to exposure of chemicals which has been rampant, especially in areas exposed to industrial processes, such as but not limited to mining, agricultural processing, manufacturing, farming, and aquaculture according to Philippine Environment Monitor (Jalilov, 2017). Caraga, the mining capital of the Philippines, has more than 15 mining companies distributed in the region. Two of the mining companies are specifically located in Agusan del Sur which might have been affecting the Magdiwata Watershed which supplies water to the Municipality of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur (PSA, 2020).

The river network of Magdiwata Watershed extends from various municipalities of the province and is vulnerable to chemical contaminations. Periodic assessment of Magdiwata river networks has been conducted by the San Francisco Water District to ensure that the public water is free from waterborne microbes and chemical contaminants. However, external assessment, surveillance and/or monitoring must be done also to validate the test findings of the local supplier. Additional and external assessments for public drinking water support the integrity of water quality management.

As such, this research assessed the physicochemical properties and heavy metal contaminants in the public water system of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur before and after water treatment. Additionally, the assessment findings were evaluated against the existing and recent local and international drinking water standards which provided a picture of its general usability for drinking and utility purposes.

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Source : Physicochemical properties and heavy metal concentrations in the drinking water of SanFrancisco, Agusan Del Sur, Philippines 

 

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