Water samples from the Sombreiro River were collected from ten different stations and analysed for some
physico-chemical parameters. The physico-chemical parameters include temperature, pH, conductivity,
total dissolved solids, phosphate, Nitrate, Ammonia-Nitrogen, sulphate, chloride, Dissolved Oxygen (DO),
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Alkalinity and Hardness; some metals also analysed include:
Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), Sodium (Na+
), Potassium (K+
), Iron II (Fe2+), Copper II (Cu2+), Zinc
(Zn2+), Manganese (Mn2+) and Lead II (Pb2+). These parameters were analysed using recommended
standard methods. The sampling for this study was done thrice in three months of October, December and
January. Metal analysis had the following mean values in the months of October, December and January as
Ca (0.72,0.75, and 0.65), Mg (0.13,0.12, and 0.23), Na (0.44, 0.39, and 0.42), K (5.35,4.95, and 5.15) and
Pb (0.21, 0.05, and 0.13) respectively, all measured in mg/L The analysis showed zero levels of Fe, Zn,
Mn, and Cu that had some trace in October at stations SB7 (0.O3mg/l) and 8138 (0.02 mg/I). The results
obtained revealed that the Sombreiro River water had relatively low levels of pollution parameters except
for Pb concentration and water bacteriology which were below the recommended limits set by Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and by World
Health Organization (WHO). The government, oil exploration companies and abattoir managers should
ensure strict compliance to safety and environmental guidelines and laws to avoid surpassing recommended
standard limits for dumping waste into surface waters.