The Effects of an Industrial Wastewater Effluent on the Seasonal Variations of Ekerekana Creek, Rivers State Nigeria

Abstract

The effects of industrial wastewater from Port-Harcourt Refinery Company Limited on Ekerekana Creek, Rivers state were studied. This study was carried out in July and December 2015. Analyses focused on Lead, Cadmium, Copper, Chromium, pH, Phosphate, Nitrate, Temperature, Dissolve Oxygen, BOD5 and Total Hydrocarbon Content as some of the parameters of interest. Sterilized yellowish-brown bottles were used to collect samples from each location and fixed with concentrated HNO3 before transporting to the laboratory in iced coolers. Water samples from the different stations were analyzed using standard laboratory methods. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM- SPSS(C)) version 19.0, statistical package for windows and MS Excel was used in the analysis of data. The test of homogeneity of variance in Means of the variables was carried out using the one way ANOVA. Results obtained showed that for heavy metals concentrations, Cadmium varied between 0.03 mg/L and 0.70 mg/L (0.39 ±0.06), Lead varied between 0.09 mg/L and 0.65 mg/L (0.29 ±0.04), Chromium between 0.04 mg/L and 0.46 mg/L (0.23 ±0.03) and Copper 0.10 mg/L and 0.90 mg/L (0.45 ±0.06) respectively. Others include pH which varied between 5.7 and 6.8 (6.15 ±0.07), Dissolved Oxygen 3.40 mg/L and 6.40 mg/L (4.75 ±0.22). BOD and Turbidity varied between 6.20 mg/L and 9.90 mg/L (7.77 ±0.29) and 8.60NTU and 11.20NTU (9.80 ±0.20) respectively. General results show that station 2 (discharge point) had maximum concentrations of heavy metals and other contributory parameters, and their values were higher than World Health Organization (WHO) and National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) standards. The test of homogeneity of variance in means of the physical and chemical parameters revealed significant spatial inequality F(161.45)>Fcrit(4.49) at P = .05 across the sampling stations.