Water Quality Assessment of Some Lagoons in Ghana

Coastal zones and their ecosystems are often confronted with issues of pollution or degradation, most of which are as a result of human influence by way of urbanization and industrialization. Ghanäs coastal area ¿ inhabited by about 25% of the national population ¿ is no exception to the growing influence of human activities that have led to the degradation of its ecosystems. This book focuses on one of such ecosystems, lagoons. Water quality assessments were carried out across some Ghanaian lagoons both in the wet and the dry season to establish their suitability in supporting aquatic life and the influence of seasonality on their quality. Numerous parameters relevant to the study were measured across all lagoons with the wet season recording most of the highest values with the exception of sulphate, temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Oxygen Reduction Potential and pH which recorded highest values in the dry season. Water Quality Indices, based on the values of the parameters measured, were also developed for the lagoons to indicate whether or not they conform to internationally accepted standards.