CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The rapid urbanization of many towns and cities across the world necessitate theconstruction of reservoirs to supply these towns with potable pipe borne water. Dadin-Kowareservoir is one of such water bodies located in the north east of Nigeria in Gombe State. It supplies municipal water to Dadin-Kowa,YamaltuDeba Local Government Area and other parts of Gombe State. Reservoirs apartfrom their primary function also have secondary uses for fisheries and irrigation of farmlands(Ahmed and Philip, 2012).
Water is an essential component for life on earth. It contains minerals which are extremelyimportant in human nutrition (Versari et al., 2002). However, the drastic increase inpopulation results in an enormous depletion (Ho et al.,2003). It is observed that human activities are a major factor determining the quantity and quality of thewater through atmospheric pollution, effluent dischargesand use of agricultural chemicals,eroded soils and land use (Sillanpa et al., 2004).As pointed out by Kofi(2001), freshwater is indispensable and is sensitive ashuman activities have great impact on the quantity and quality of freshwater: both thequality and quantity of our planet's freshwater are under threat.