WATER QUALITY APPRAISAL AND ITS EFFECT ON AQUATIC LIFE AND ECOTOURISM: A CASE STUDY OF LAKE BOSOMTWE IN THE ASHANTI REGION OF GHANA

A research was conducted at Lake Bosomtwe in the Ashanti Region of Ghana to assess the performance of the lake with respect to temporal variations of selected biological characteristics, physicochemical characteristics and correlation analysis of the biological characteristics. Sixty (60) water samples were collected from ten (10) identified locations on the lake from 2013 to 2015 at the peak of rainy and dry seasons. The results indicated that the average values for colour, temperature, pH, Alkalinity, hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Chloride, Phosphate, Nitrate, Arsenic, Zinc, Copper and Lead were 52.00Pt-co, 24.80oC, 7.22, 46.42, 53.50, 4.01, 8.08, 1560, 0.79, 0.11, 0.07, 0.10, 0.14 and 0.04mg/l respectively. All the values were within the range of World Health Organization water quality guidelines for aquatic life and recreational purpose. There were also a gradual increase of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) showing that the demand of oxygen for aquatic life was being affected which will make the water unsuitable for aquatic life in the near future. Finally, BOD5 also showed strong positive correlation with COD and negative with DO and pH. The deteriorating nature of the lake as a result of gradual increasing concentrations of BOD5 and COD should be a concern to the authorities and managers of the lake.