Surface water is very vulnerable to pollution due to its ease of accessibility to human and animals, runoff from farmlands and other anthropogenic contaminations. It is one thing to have water within one's reach, and another to have it potable for use. This paper reports the seasonal variation and implication of the quality status of two surface dams located in some water-stressed communities of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. Water quality assessments were carried out for a period of six seasons (August 2009-April 2012) using standard analytical methods. Seasonal variation of the water quality showed increasing and decreasing metal ion concentration in the dry and wet seasons, respectively, except for copper, which had a reverse trend. Seasonal values showed that most of the metals had values above their respective WHO standards for drinking water. For average concentrations, Mabudi dam had higher values of lead (0.53±0.02)mg/l, arsenic (0.08±0.001)mg/l, cobalt (0.11±0.001)mg/l and nickel (0.36±0.02)mg/l in the dry season than Wubang dam. Wubang dam recorded higher cadmium (0.80±0.001)mg/l and aluminium (1.79±0.001)mg/l values with no mercury detected throughout the period of study. Other physicochemical parameters also vary between the seasons with most of the values (for turbidity, colour, suspended and total dissolved solids) exceeding their maximum tolerable limits for both seasons. The water in both seasons had high microbial loads, with the dry season being higher. Biochemical tests on the isolates showed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp. Bacillus spp. Salmonella spp. Enterobacterea, Pseudomonas spp. and Shigella, most of whose counts were higher during the dry season. Being the only sources of water for both domestic and agricultural uses in these communities, there is an urgent need for government and non-governmental organizations to address the water situation in the communities in order to curtail the outbreak of water-related diseases, which has already affected some families based on the kind of cases being attended to within the period by the Primary Health Care Clinic in one community. Our research group is embarking on cost-effective purification methods towards alleviating the situation, as well as rain water harvesting initiatives.
The concentration of heavy metals in respiration dust (˂10µg) within Jos Metropolis was monitored in seven sites made up of two industrial and high traffic areas each, with residential site as control were studied for nine consecutive months (October, 2013 to June, 2014). The concentrations of the heavy metals were studied in terms dust mass, time dependence and safety. The mass of respirable dust ranged from 0.079-0.288g, while the mean concentration ranged from 49-208ug/m 3. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS) analysis shows that the concentrations of heavy metals ranged from Pb, (0.016-0.331) mg/kg, Cr, (0.016-0.118)mg/kg Fe, (0.012-0.652) mg/kg, (0.07-0.056) mg/kg, Cd, (0.002-0.107)mg/kg, Zn, (0.0233-0.988) mg/kg, Cu, (0.023-0.668) mg/kg and Ni (0.004-0,058) mg/kg across sites studied. The data obtained were treated statistically using one-way analysis of variance at 95% confidence limit for mean and correlated with the anthropological and industrial activities of the sites. The main sources of these heavy metals in the sampled areas, was attributed to anthropogenic activities like open incineration of waste, vehicular traffic and ongoing construction work within some of the sites.
Nanoparticles are solid particles with a size range between 1-100 nm, with a wide range of applications, ranging from the field of electronics to medicine. In recent times, the synthesis of nanoparticles has drawn the attention of most researchers, and different methods, ranging from physical and chemical to biological are been reported, out of which the biological mediated synthesis is considered a green chemistry approach that connects nanotechnology and biotechnology. In this study, copper nanoparticles which find a wide range of applications in diverse fields were synthesized by adopting the green chemistry approach using an aqueous extract of Mangifera indica leaves. The synthesized copper nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and FTIR Spectroscopy. The UV-visible spectrum for the synthesized copper nanoparticles was obtained at 326nm. While the FTIR results were obtained at different frequency bands for the synthesized copper nanoparticles and the leaf extract, by comparing the FTIR spectra of the copper nanoparticles and the extract, it was inferred that the plants’ phytochemicals such as tannin, saponins, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides present in the aqueous solution of the extract are responsible for the synthesis, capping and stabilization of the copper nanoparticles.
The problems of supplying sufficient and sustainable potable water when needed or where it is wanted in sufficient quantities and qualities are acute in Africa. African's problem is not that of scarcity alone but the uncontrollable pollution of the available water bodies in both urban and rural areas. Most dams have become 'dams of death' due to the complexity of disease-causing organisms and toxic substances they contain. The UN declared 2005-2015 the 'water for life decade' with a focus on water related issues, but half of the period is gone without much impact being felt on the continent in terms of accessibility, sanitation, proper management and security. Nigeria is faced with the challenges of oil spillage in the south which has killed virtually all aquatic life forms and rendered the people without potable water for domestic use. Also ravaging the country is the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in lagoons, ponds and rivers in the west, gully erosion which has turned most rivers in the east into 'death traps' and the deserted dams and rivers in the northern part of the country. This paper investigates the past and present situation of the Nigerian water bodies in terms of capacity, accessibility/usage, management and security. Natural and artificial factors responsible for these changes are being explored and possible solutions suggested for remedying the challenges for sustainable management of the available water resources.
The adsorption of cadmium (II) ions from aqueous solution by Nymphaea ampla leaf biomass was carried out with effects of initial cadmium concentration, solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and temperature of the process investigated. An adsorbent dosage of 120 mg showed maximum metal uptake capacity (qe) of 2.75 mg/g (82.6%) for an initial metal ion concentration of 2.0 mg/L and pH 7. Sorption equilibrium time was observed in 30 minutes. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) adsorption isotherm models. Freundlich isotherm yielded the best fit to the experimental equilibrium adsorption data with a correlation coefficient (R 2) of 0.990. The kinetics of cadmium (II) ions adsorption was discussed using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion models. It was discovered that the adsorption of cadmium (II) ions could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (ΔG 0), enthalpy (ΔH 0) and entropy change of the sorption (ΔS 0) evaluated showed that the process was spontaneous, feasible and exothermic in nature. The results indicated that Nymphaea ampla leaf biomass can be used as an effective and low-cost adsorbent to remove cadmium (II) ions from aqueous solutions.
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