INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON WATER QUALITY OF RECEIVING RIVERS IN NIGERIA

Industrial wastewaters entering a water body represent a heavy source of environmental pollution in Nigerian rivers. It affects both the water quality as well as the microbial and aquatic flora. With competing demands on limited water resources, awareness of the issues involved in water pollution, has led to considerable public debate about the environmental effects of industrial effluents discharged into aquatic environments. Industrial effluents are characterized by their abnormal turbidity, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total hardness. Industrial wastes containing high concentration of microbial nutrients would obviously promote an after-growth of significantly high coliform types and other microbial forms. Organic pollution is always evident and the pollution is made worse by land-based sources such as the occasional discharge of raw sewage through storm water outlets, and industrial effluents from refineries, oil terminals, and petrochemical plants. Waste effluents rich in decomposable organic matter, is the primary cause of organic pollution. Waste waters from textile, brewery, food and beverages, paper, pulp and palm oil industries, the cases chosen, are believed to give a broad outline of industrial wastes as well as disposal problems.