Physicochemical Parameters and Selected Heavy Metal Contents of Waste Water Effluents from Soft Drink Factory, Burie, Gojam, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was aimed at assessing effects of effluents from Burie Soft Drinks Factory on Water Quality of Manzena River. The mean results indicated that some measured physicochemical parameter values in some sample sites were above the recommended permissible limit of WHO. The most impacted sites (ED, DS1) registered high values of pH, conductivity, TDS, Turbidity and CaCO3 indicating poor water quality. At the effluent joins the river ED and DS1 some physicochemical parameters do not fulfill the guide lines provided by WHO. The range values of physicochemical parameters (temperature, pH, EC, TDS and sulfate in the wastewater 20.2-23 , 7.48-8.6, 460-1590 μs/cm, 294-1017 mg/L and 1.8-4.8 mg/L were recorded respectively, and values were in the wastewater above the recommended permissible limit set by WHO. The experimental values of turbidity, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, calcium carbonate and magnesium ion 1.28-155, 6.7-9.2, 1.4-2.5, 1.3-2.27, 2.1-353 and 0.2-59 mg/L respectively were obtained, and the values were below the recommended permissible limit set by WHO The heavy metal results obtained from this study showed that the overall concentrations of heavy metals Pb, Zn, Fe, Cu, Cr, Cd, and Mn in the ranged 0.411-1.405, 0.371-0.405, 1.34-2.738, 0.076-0.125, 0.128-0.133, BDL, and 0.089-0.105 mg/L respectively. The concentrations of those heavy metals (Zn, Fe, Cu, Cd, and Mn) in the wastewater were below the recommended limit of WHO and the concentrations of Pb and Cr were above the permissible limit of WHO. The method validation result range of LOD and LOQ were 0.002-0.009 and 0.0028-0.030 respectively, and the validation result range of RSD and Accuracy at sample location of US1 (0.107-1.618, 98.617-121.213), at sample location of ED (0.684-2.351, 95.467-122.55) and sample location of DS1 (0.413-2.485, 95.200-117.258) respectively. Hence attention and treatment should be given to tackle the pollution of the river for those parameter levels that were above the permissible limits of WHO.