Characterizing Physico-Chemical Parameters of Raw Paint-Based Industrial Effluent: Case Study of Abuja, Nigeria

Environmental pollution has become a worldwide and a global problem as increase in human population has led to increase in the establishment of more industries to meet the growing needs of the growing population. This is endangering the entire ecosystem due to the toxic effects of these contaminants. This study was carried out to investigate and assess the level of contamination in effluent from a paint manufacturing in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria. The effluent was analyzed for the following parameters; pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity, total solids (TS), dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity (EC), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) and heavy metals, Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb). Effluent was collected in very clean bottles and was analyzed following standard methods for wastewater analysis. The results on two different batch analysis of the effluent from the same industry affirmed the pH in the range of 7.34-8.34, DO 3.71-3.50mg/L, turbidity 4436-47829 NTU, EC 196.73-2619 mS/m, TS 304707-47829 mg/L, BOD 73.2-216 mg/L and COD 365-602 mg/L. The concentrations of the heavy metals were 0.5-0.54ppm (Cr), 0.3-1.07 ppm (Cu), 0.6 -16.01 ppm (Cd) 0.6 -9.36 ppm (Pb) and 0.01 ppm (As). The results obtained showed that effluent’s phyico-chemical parameters exceed the permissible limit set by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Nigeria. This effluent without effective and proper remediation becomes a great risk to the total environment and life in general with great danger on public health. Therefore, concerned authorities must, as a matter of urgency, advocate and put in place basic necessities for the clean-up of such effluent before final discharge into the environment.