You have full access to this open access article. Awash River, one of the major rivers in Ethiopia which originate from the central highland area, crosses different extended agricultural farms as well as various industries which receives large effluents from different sources.
Nineteen physicochemical parameters, as well as heavy metals Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd and Ni , were quantified using atomic absorption spectroscopy in eight different sampling stations of Awash River. Buffer zones should be protected in order to control soil and agricultural nutrients from entering to Awash River. Moreover, industries at the upper stream area should be properly and adequately treat the wastewater before discharging to the Modjo as well as Awash River.
Currently, surface water pollution has received much attention globally. Both natural process and anthropogenic activities, like hydrological features, climate change, precipitation, agricultural activities, and wastewater discharge from industries, are the main reason for worsening of surface water quality Ravichandran ; Gantidis et al. Surface water mainly rivers has different purposes in various sectors like agriculture, industry, transportation, and domestic water supply.
Nonetheless, rivers have also been used for cleaning and dumping purposes. This practices more prominent in developing countries, mostly in Africa. Wastewater from industries, domestic sewage, and agricultural farms is discharged into rivers which leads to deteriorate surface water quality Ravindra et al. Rivers are among the main vulnerable aquatic environment to pollution because of far flow to take municipal, industrial wastes and agrochemicals through runoff Singh et al.
Surface water quality in various areas is largely affected by both natural process precipitation and weathering process and anthropogenic activities like domestic sewage, industrial pollution, and agricultural activities Varol et al. Domestic sewage and industrial wastewater discharge is a point source of pollution, whereas agricultural pollution is a nonpoint source of pollution through surface runoff and varies with season depending on the climatic condition of the specific region Singh et al.
