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Levels of Some Heavy Metals and Physico Chemical Properties of Effluents from a Beverage Company in Rivers State, Nigeria
Akaninwor, J.O.; Wegwu, M.O. & Nwaichi, E.O.
Abstract
In this study, the concentrations of selected heavy meyals and physico-chemical characteristics
of effluents from a beverage company in Rivers State, Nigeria and those of the receiving Woji River were
evaluated to ascertain the efficiency of the company’s waste treatment processes. The results showed that the
contents of Mg in downstream water samples differed significantly (p< 0.05) from those of upstream and effluent
samples with a value of 80.8mg/l. However, the concentration of NA+ in the upstream samples far exceeded those
of other samples with a mean value of 791mg/l. The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Cr fell below detection limit of
0.001mg/l for all samples. Also, the levels of Fe, Zn, and Mn were low with Fe having the highest concentration of
2.10mg/l (downstream and treated effluent samples, respectively). The pH of the samples were generally alkaline,
except the upstream samples that gave a pH value of 6.89. The dissolved Oxygen contents of all the samples fell
below FEPA limit of 10mg/l. However, the highest chemical oxygen demand concentration of 93.7mg/l was
obtained in the untreated effluent sample. The mean ammonia concentration of the untreated sample was much
higher than those of the treated with a value of 50.0mg/l. Also, total dissolved solid content of the untreated
sample fell far above those of the treated sample. In general, whereas the concentrations of nutrient metals were
higher in the treated samples, the contents of the physico-chemical parameters in the treated samples fell far below
those of the untreated samples. These findings suggest that the treatment system adopted by the beverage company
is efficient for effluent treatment as the values fell within the natural background levels.
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