Assessment of Saclux Paint Industrial Effluents on Nkoho River in Abia State, Nigeria

Water plays an important role in determining the quality of life on earth and yet this role is threatened by indiscriminate discharge of industrial effluents. The study aimed to assess the potential impact of industrial effluents from Saclux paint industry on the water quality of Nkoho River in Abia state, Nigeria. Water samples were taken at the effluent discharge point, upstream and downstream of the discharge point in the month of September, October and November, 2016 and geo-referenced using Garmin 76CSx Global Positioning system (GPS). The results showed that there were variations in the water quality characteristics in the different sampling time (September, October and November). Temperature, total solids (TS), suspended solids (SS), total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity and colour of the water samples were significantly higher (p<0.05) at the mid-stream compared to the upstream and downstream in the month of September, but varied in the month of October and November, while hardness, nitrate, acidity, microbial load (TVC), total coliform, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were significantly higher (p<0.05) at the upstream compared to midstream and down-stream in the different sampling time. Temperature (29.16-31.00°C), TS (3188.00-3973.70 mg/L), SS (2980.00-3848.67 mg/L), turbidity (119.43-131.47 NTU), pH (8.83-9.03), phosphate (99.23-120.13 mg/L) and phenol concentration (101.74-108.57 mg/L) of the effluent were above the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv) limits, while SS, NTU, phenol, sulphate, phosphate, TVC, total coliform and EC of the water samples exceeded regulatory standards of FMEnv and WHO for surface water quality. The variations in the water quality parameters could be attributed to possible differences in the batches of paint produced at the different test time. It can be concluded from the study that the poor water quality might confer potentials hazards to aquatic life and end users.