398 International Research Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 2, Issue. 2 (2021), 398-405 Available online at https://www.irjst.com/ International Research Journal of Science and Technology ISSN: 2707-3955 Impacts of Urbanization on Seasonal Water Quality Dynamics in Mudi River in Blantyre District, Malawi Sylvester Richard Chikabvumbwa 1 , Singanan Malairajan 2* , Sylvester William Chisale 3 1 University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi. 2 Presidency College (Autonomous), PG and Research Department of Chemistry, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. India. 3 Malawi University of Science and Technology, Box 5196, Limbe, Malawi. Abstract Paper Status Received : Jan 2020 Accepted : Feb 2021 Published : Mar 2021 Key Words Mudi River Public health Sustainable management Water quality Water pollution This study investigated the status of water quality in the Mudi River due to urbanization and increasing soil erosion levels. Water samples were collected during dry (October 2019) and wet seasons (January 2020) from three selected strategic places i.e. before the city limit, within the city, and out-skirt the city. Physicochemical and biological parameters such as pH, temperature, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), and fecal coliforms were examined on the Mudi River water. Obtained data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists and ArcGIS 10.8. The results revealed that the Mudi River has lower water quality as most parameters exceeded the recommended limits thresholds, which may found that the Mudi River water was polluted significantly. Even though, quality of the studied river water was found as significantly better during the wet season than the dry season (p<0.05), which may be due to the dilution effect of the rainfall. This study recommends to the concerned body to increase the environmental awareness, integrate the solid waste management in the city, proper drainage systems, rehabilitation of sewer lines, and creating a buffer to protect river bank cultivation and continuous monitoring of the river using Geographic Information Systems. Copyright © 2021: Sylvester Richard Chikabvumbwa, Singanan Malairajan, Sylvester William Chisale. This is an open- access distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided Access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License the original work is properly cited License, which permits unrestricted use. Citation: Sylvester Richard Chikabvumbwa, Singanan Malairajan, Sylvester William Chisale. “Impacts of Urbanization on Seasonal Water Quality Dynamics in Mudi River in Blantyre District, Malawi”, International Research Journal of Science and Technology, 2(2), 398-405, 2021. 1. Introduction Even though sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 promotes access to clean and safe water, sustainable management of water, and sanitation for all, pollution of water sources is still a common problem in Africa. In developing countries like Malawi, pollution of water sources arises from human activities, entreated effluent from industries, insufficient untreated sewage, vehicular emissions, and agricultural fields [1]. * Corresponding author: Singanan Malairajan Presidency College (Autonomous), PG and Research Department of Chemistry, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. India. Email : mssinganan@yahoo.co.in Poor water quality is detrimental to public health as it can result in diseases such as cholera and diarrhea [2]. Water quality monitoring for surface and subsurface sources is one of the planning strategies towards sustainable water resources management [3, 4]. Water quality monitoring of rivers aids water managers to detect water quality problems in the rivers such as pollution, sedimentation and to identify proper solutions to such problems [5]. Understanding water quality variations in rivers [6] is therefore critical for decision making mainly if routine monitoring is not properly followed. This involves frequent collection and testing of water quality parameters (physical, biological, chemical) from the rivers at strategic