Impact of open sewage dumpsites on groundwater quality in Igwuruta, Rivers States State, Nigeria
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
U. P.
Abstract
This study investigated groundwater quality around an open sewage dumpsite at Igwuruta, Rivers State, Nigeria. Six monitoring boreholes sited within the vicinity of the dumpsite and a reference borehole sited about 5 km away was sampled during the rainy season of 2012. In situ determination of water temperature, pH, conductivity, salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) were made using a Horiba U-10 water quality checker and water samples collected in replicates. Heavy metals, oil content and other physicochemical parameters were also determined. The quality parameters varied as follows: pH 6.40 - 7.84 (6.79 ± 0 .07); DO 5.20 - 6.30 (5.76 ± 0.09) mg/L; Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) 1.20 - 4.60 (3.63 ± 0.22) mg/L, Chemical Oxygen Demand 2.10 - 7.00 (5.65 ± 0.34) mg/L, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 14.00 - 26.00 (20.59 ± 0.73) mg/L, total coliform counts 1.00 - 6.50 (4.48 ± 0.37) MPN; salinity 0.000 - 0.004 (0.002 ± 0.0002) ‰; SO42- 1.10 -10.00 (4.07 ± 0.57) mg/L; NO3- 1.00 - 6.80 (3.75 ± 0.49) mg/L; PO42- 0.04 - 0.66 (0.42 ± 0.05) mg/L; oil 0.000 - 0.005 (0.0020 ± 0.0003) mg/L; Pb 0.000 - 0.038 (0.022 ± 0.002) mg/L; Cr 0.001 - 0.085 (0.047 ± 0.007) mg/L; Ni 0.012 - 1.110
(0.362 ± 0.102) mg/L and Hg 0.000 - 0.001 (0.00067 ± 0.0001) mg/L. The levels of BOD, total coliform counts, PO42-, TSS, Cu, Fe, Cr and Ni exceeded
the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment maximum permissible limit for drinking water, indicating pollution of groundwater within the sewage disposal site. Treatment of raw sewage before disposal at the dumpsite is therefore recommended.
Description
A research article on Department of Environmental Technology. It contains maps, tables and graphs
Keywords
Sewage dumpsite, ground water, borehole, heavy metals, coliform., Department of Environmental Technology
Citation
Edo, F. A, Ejioju, C. C. , Uzoije,A. P. , Nwachukwu, M. A. ,Okoli,C. G. 2014. Impact of open sewage dumpsites on groundwater quality in Igwuruta, Rivers States State, Nigeria , Journal of Global Biosciences, 3( 6), pp. 919-930 .