The CSIR Water Research Institute undertook water quality monitoring and assessment of the Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems of Ghana from 2005 to 2008 for the Water Resources Commission of Ghana (WRC) under WRIS II Project, a Danish Government Funded Project. The Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems cover approximately 30% of the total drainage basins of Ghana. A total of 19 surface water stations were selected for the monitoring programme. The Adapted Water Quality Index (WQI) was to be used as a tool to classify the overall ambient water quality at the 19 different stations. The index classified water quality into one of four categories: good (Class I, >80), fairly good (Class II, 50 - 80), poor (Class III, 25 - 50), and grossly polluted (Class IV, <25). This paper presents the Water Quality Index approach to the assessment of water quality of the waters in the different stations during the period of study. These ten water quality parameters were used to determine the water quality index (WQI): Dissolved Oxygen (DO % Saturation), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4-N), Faecal Coliform (FC), pH, Nitrate as Nitrogen (NO3-N), Phosphate as Phosphorus (PO4-P), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Conductivity and Temperature. Evaluation of the waters with the WQI indicated that most Ghanaian waters are currently in Class II, the fairly good water quality state, but with variations in this range within the seasons and stations, and from one water body to the other. Potroase in the Densu basin had the best water quality during the study period while Nsawam had the poorest. Efforts should be made to prevent further pollution of the waters to improve their quality.
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