Physico-Chemical Analysis of Some Selected Water Sources Around the Waste Treatment Plant of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Nigeria

Physico-Chemical Analysis of Some Selected Water Sources Around the Waste Treatment Plant of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Nigeria

Chapter One

Aim and Objectives of the Study

The study aims to validate the correlation between poorly treated hospital effluents, human activities and the pollution of surface water and groundwater sources around the immediate environment of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital liquid waste treatment plant.

To achieve this aim, the following objectives have been outlined:

To determine some physicochemical parameters which are temperature, conductivity, pH, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the surface and groundwater samples collected from the study area;
To identify and determine the amount of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Fe, Ni, Mn, Co and Cr) present in the surface water and groundwater sources within the study area and to compare the levels of the metals with the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible levels;
To identify organic pollutants (methylene chloride, xylene, butylatedhydoxyltoluene, ethyl benzene, toluene and formaldehyde) present in the surface and groundwater sources and
To determine the colony-forming unit in the surface water and groundwater sources in the study area.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

WATER

Water is one of the most indispensable natural resources and is called the elixir of life. Water constitutes about 70% of the body weight of almost all living organisms. Life is not possible on this planet without water. It acts as a medium for both chemical and biochemical reactions (Rajankaret al., 2009). Several living organisms live in water. The basic functions of a society require water; for cleaning, for public consumption, for industrial processes and cooling of gas turbines for electricity generation.

Ground water constitutes 20% of water present as freshwater. The value of groundwater lies not only in its wide spread occurrence and availability but also in its consistent good quality, which makes it an ideal supply for drinking water. However, ground water resources are under serious threat due to growing interest in mechanized agricultural practices, increasing population density and rapid urbanization as well as effluent discharge from industries and healthcare centres. Ground water provisions are sometimes unsustainable because of poor water productivity of its sources, drying of hand dug wells after prolonged drought and sometimes due to poor water quality.

Contaminated water resources have grave implications on human health and the environment (Peterson et al., 1971). The importance of water quality on human health has recently attracted a great deal of interest. In developing world, 80% of all diseases are directly related to poor drinking water and unsanitary conditions (Olajire and Imeokparia, 2001; Chung et al., 2007). Ground water quality can be affected by varied pollutants ranging from organic and inorganic chemicals and microbes. This makes users of groundwater susceptible to diseases of different kinds. High concentration of NO₃-N has been reported to be common in ground water sources in the world (Wassenaar, 1995; Goulding, 2000). The natural water analyses for physical, chemical, biological properties including trace elements contents are very important for public health studies. These studies are also a main part of pollution studies in the environment (Bakraji and Karajo, 1999; Zereenet al., 2000).

Water Pollution

Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater due to the direct or indirect activities of humans. Water pollution (surface and ground) may be considered as a naturally induced change in water quality or conditions induced directly or indirectly by man’s numerous activities which renders it unsuitable for food, human health, industry, agriculture or leisure pursuit (Dix, 1981; Cifuentes and Rodriguez, 2005).

With the increasing population, industrialization and urbanization, water pollution by agriculture, municipal and industrial sources has become a major concern for the welfare of mankind. The menace of water borne diseases and epidemics still threatens the well- being of population, particularly in developing countries. Thus, the quality as well as the quantity of clean water supply is of vital importance for the welfare of mankind (Owuna, 2012).

Groundwater and surface water pollution

Groundwater contamination is generally irreversible i.e. it is difficult to restore the original water quality of the aquifer once contaminated. Excessive mineralization of groundwater degrades water quality producing an unpleasant taste, odour and excessive hardness. Although the soil mantle through which water passes acts as an adsorbent retaining a large part of colloidal and soluble ions with its cation exchange capacity, groundwater is not completely free from the menace of chronic pollution (Bhatia, 2009). The extent of groundwater pollution depends on the depth of water table, rainfall pattern, soil properties and the distance of the groundwater source from the perceived contamination source.

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Description of Study Area

Zaria is located on latitude 11^o30’ and longitude 7^o50’ and is about 686m above sea level. It falls within the tropical savannah (AW) climate, according to Koppen’s world climate classification. It lies in the natural vegetation of the Northern Guinea Savannah, some 80 km North of Kaduna town, along the major high way from Kaduna to Kano State.Zaria is blessed with abundant water resource both ground and surface and the distribution of this resource have very little variation in both time and space amongst the sub-settlements (Yusuf et al., 2007). There are two major river systems; the Kubanni and Saye, joined at a confluence to form river Galma. These rivers together with their tributaries (Kamacha and Shika) drain the land area of Zaria (Lukmanet al., 2009).

This studywas carried out at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital located in Shika as shown in Fig. 3.1. The surrounding area of the University Teaching Hospital liquid waste treatment plant was studied as shown in Fig. 3.2. The treated wastewater from the plant is normally discharged into the surrounding area, this forms a small stream which is the surface water source used in the study. Four sampling points separated from one another by a distance of about 10 m were selected on the surface water.These were designated points S1, S2, S3 and S4 respectively.

The underground water around the treatment plant was also studied. Four hand dug wells were used as the underground water source. These are used by the local farmers for irrigation purposes and drinking. The wells were designated U1, U2, U3 and U4 respectively.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

Physicochemical Parameters

The meanconcentrations of the physicochemical parameters of the surface water arepresented in Table 4.1. The pHvaried between 6.90 and 7.70 across the sites. Generally the pH of the samples tended to be slightly alkaline among the sites except for samples S2 where the pH was slightly acidic.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that pH varied significantly(at p<0.05) across the sampling sites.Electrical conductivity varied between 74.00µS/cm (S2) and 820.00µS/cm (S3) as shown in Table 4.1.The dissolved oxygen(DO)values varied between 1.03mg/l(S1) and 1.40mg/l (S2).The DO values showed no significant difference across the sampling points. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) fluctuated between 0.20mg/l at S2 and 0.80mg/l at S3. There was no significant difference in the mean B.O.D values ofthe surface water samples. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) values for the surface water samples S1, S2, S3 and S4 were found to be 1.10mg/l, 3.10mg/l, 3.71mg/l and 1.72mg/l.

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION

Physicochemical Parameters of the Surface and Underground Water

In this study, 66 samples of surface water andground waterwere collected. The samples were collected from eight sites (S1, S2, S3, S4, U1, U2, U3 and U4) all found in the immediate environment of the liquid waste treatment plant of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital.

The highest pH recorded in the surface water sites was 7.70. This is higher than the range of 6.20-6.88 reported by Ibeh and Omoruyi (2011) in the physicochemical parameters of a hospital effluent from a university teaching hospital based in southern Nigeria.All sites in the study area were within the WHO (2011) permissible guideline value of 6.5-8.5.

CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

The present study analysedpH,turbidity, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nitrate, sulphate, phosphate and temperature of the water samples from the surface and ground water sites. The dissolved oxygen was lower than the WHO standard for aquatic life. This can pose risk to the aquatic life present within the study area.Turbidity exceeded the permissible limit set by WHO(2011). All other parameters were below the WHO permissible limits. From the correlation studies, nitrate and sulphate may serve as useful indices for water quality in the surface water.

Some of the metals analysed in the surface and underground water sites were below the WHO standard limits in some sites except for Cr and Pb which exceeded the standard limits in all the sites studied. This can pose harm to the rural dwellers that use this water sources for drinking and other uses.Fe was high in all the sites studied.This could be attributed to its bioavailability in the environment and its essential role in haemoglobin.

Organic pollutants were identified in the ground and surface water samples in the study area. ButylatedHydroxyltoluene, Toluene, Xylene and Ethylbenzenewere identified.

The values obtained from the microbial analysis indicate high densities of coliform count in the surface and ground water sites. This is an indication of faecal contamination of the water bodies. It may be due to the discharge of hospital wastewater and other impurities from non-point sources.

Recommendations

It is recommended that:

Governmental policies on waste disposal and management should be enacted and strictly enforced.
Further studies should be carried out to on how to degrade organic pollutants into harmless compounds.

Further studies should be carried out to identify active pharmaceutical ingredients present in the hospital liquid waste and its impact on the water bodies in the vicinity of the wastewater plant.
Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Management should upgrade their treatment processes.

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