Characterizing automobile industrial wastewater and its impacts on surrounding water quality

The wastewater from industries varies so greatly in both flow and pollution strength. So, it is impossible to assign fixed values to their constituents. It is necessary to pretreat the wastes prior to release to the municipal system since lack of adequate treatment of the effluent can cause deterioration of the ecosystem, die off and contamination of the aquatic environment. These adverse effects necessitated the study of wastewater effect on surface water body at Emene Industrial Layout, Enugu State, Nigeria. Wastewater samples were collected, analyzed and compared with the plot of treatment means. The results obtained from the study were compared with WHO and NIS 554 water standards. The wastewater analysis suggested that contaminant at the untreated stage was very high. The results of the treated and river sample were within the WHO and NIS 554 allowable water ranges. Samples at discharge point recorded increased values which suggest high re-contamination along the open channel (from non-point sources) before discharge. This calls for proper monitoring and treatment of the industrial effluent prior to ground water recharge or discharge to surface water.