Assessment of Water Quality in Relation to Palm Oil Mill Effluent Discharge, Ogele Stream, Ogbadibo, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract:

The processes of palm oil production generated a huge amount of contaminated water usually referred to as palm oil mill effluent. Waste generated from palm oil milling or manufacturing process is often discharged untreated into nearby streams, rivers, and lands. In this study, the quality of the Ogele water stream was assessed in relation to Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Discharge. Stream water samples were collected using simple surface‐grab methods from the three-segmented portions of the stream level as Upstream, midstream, and downstream. Laboratory analysis of Physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters that include pH, temperature, turbidity, EC, TSS, TDS, BOD, COD, Cr, Pb, Cu, Mn, Mg, and TBC were conducted. Mean differences between the sampling points were tested with one-way analysis of variance with fisher’s exact test for the least significant difference at p ≤ 0.05. The results indicate that measured parameters that include pH, temperature, EC, TSS, TDS are all within the normal range of the WHO threshold limit. But turbidity in all the sampling points exceeds the WHO limit of 5 NTU. Also, the minimum and a maximum mean of 44.67 and 69.33 for TBC in all the sampling points significantly exceed the WHO threshold limit of 10 cfu/ml. A relatively low BOD, COD, TSS, TSD was observed in all the sampling point. Moreover, a significant decrease was observed in values of pH, temperature, and EC with sampling points between Upstream, midstream, with downstream. The heavy metals analysis shows that Cr, Pb, Mn, and Mg all exceed the threshold limit of WHO. The water quality of the ogele stream is fit to support aquatic life but not adequately suitable for domestic consumption. The impact of discharging untreated palm oil mill effluent into our water bodies cannot be overemphasized. hence the need for the treatment actions to lessen these impacts prior to discharge.