An Assessment of the Impact of Anthropocentric Values on Water Quality in Mudi River, Blantyre City

Freshwater is one of the most essential yet increasingly endangered resources on Earth. As urbanization, industrial expansion, and population growth intensify across the Global South, the degradation of water bodies due to human-centered values has emerged as a pressing socio-ecological concern. This study focuses on the Mudi River in Blantyre City, Malawi, as a case through which to interrogate the consequences of anthropocentric values—a worldview that regards nature primarily as a means to human ends. Unlike traditional water quality studies that focus solely on physical and chemical contaminants, this research integrates environmental ethics and socio-behavioral analysis to investigate how profit-driven development, inadequate environmental governance, and unsustainable livelihoods collectively contribute to riverine degradation. By adopting a mixed-methods approach—merging quantitative water quality testing with qualitative surveys and ethical analysis—this study explores both the measurable pollution in the Mudi River and the underlying human behaviors and motivations that drive it. Laboratory results reveal alarming levels of pollutants such as fecal coliforms, phosphates, and ammonia, while community interviews expose everyday interactions with the river that, though economically necessary, perpetuate its decline. This dual analysis highlights how anthropocentric development paradigms not only pollute water resources but also diminish society’s capacity to value water as a shared ecological heritage. In a broader context, this paper challenges the prevailing development narrative in sub-Saharan Africa by arguing for a transition toward eco-centric water ethics—a moral framework that recognizes the intrinsic value of rivers and ecosystems, independent of their utility to humans. It is within this paradigm that sustainable water management policies and conservation strategies must be envisioned. Through the lens of the Mudi River, the study offers urgent lessons for cities grappling with the trade-offs between economic survival and ecological sustainability.