Potential Impact of Wash Bay Effluent on the Water Quality of a Subtropical River

Abstract

Washbay effluents have received scant attention as a potential source of water pollution globally. This study is the first to investigate the potential impact of the total wash bay effluent content released into river water in Africa. We investigated the potential ramifications of wash bay effluxent released off Charter Estates, Chimanimani in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe on the water quality of the receiving subtropical Nyahode River by measuring selected water limnochemical aspects which included biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, pH, sulphates, phosphates, iron, total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and electrical conductivity (EC) once every 3 months from October 2011 to July 2012. The obtained mean levels of the limnochemical parameters from the Nyahode River were compared to the local Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and international World Health Organisation (WHO) effluent standards. Our results show that the control point and the off effluent discharge source downstream points in the Nyahode River had water quality parameters that were below the local EMA and WHO water quality threshold values. Cluster analysis showed a strong linkage in the values of water quality parameters measured at sampling sites 3 and 4 which were below the discharge point. Wash bay effluent released from the Charter Estate has an impact on some aspects of the water in the Nyahode River but the river has a functional self-purification capacity. Onsite industrial purification of wash bay effluent before discharge reduces its potential deleterious impact on water quality, river habitat integrity and aquatic biodiversity.

An assessment of the physicochemical properties and toxicity potential of carwash effluents from professional carwash outlets in Gauteng Province, South Africa

“…The downside of in vivo toxicity bioassays is that they give limited information about the substance or substances responsible for an observed effect. However, looking at Table 3 Exceptionally high BOD concentrations (range 114-650 mg/l) were observed in five of the effluent samples, with only CW6 (27 mg/l) complying with the WHO guideline value of 30 mg/l (Danha et al 2014). While this observation has partly been attributed to the presence of LAS in effluent samples, high BOD is also an index of organic pollution in a water matrix (Adedolapo and Olajumoke 2012).…”

Effects of discharge from carwash on the physico-chemical parameters and zooplanktonic abundance of Odo-Ebo River, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

“…The effect of the effluent as recorded in the higher mean values of major ions (phosphate, sulphate, and nitrate) has been reported by researchers such as Sablayrolles et al (2010) [25], Aisling et al (2011) [26], Adeyemi-Ale (2014) [27], and Danha et al (2014) [12]. They attributed the increase in loads of these major ions to the hydrocarbon components of detergents being used at the carwash bay, thus to organic pollution.…”

“…Thus, detergent wastes can have poisonous effects on all types of aquatic life if they get accumulated in sufficient quantities [11]. Detergents could also affect receiving aquatic environments by causing foaming and eutrophication, therefore limiting oxygen production [12]. The hazard of detergent pollution also lies in their effect on water ecosystems as a whole for surfactants may adversely affect microalgae at the lowest trophic level, impacting their function as major suppliers of oxygen to water bodies and result in community structure infringement [13].…”

Assessing the impacts of vehicle wash wastewater on surface water quality through physico-chemical and benthic macroinvertebrates analyses

“…Comparatively higher concentrations of variables related to vehicle washing were detected at the impact sites (Table 3). Other studies have also reported impact of VWW on surface water chemistry with maximum deterioration at the VWW discharge zones (Chukwu, Segi, & Adeoye, 2008;Danha et al, 2014). Paired-samples t test (Table 4) also indicated significant impact of influxed VWW in certain water quality variables.…”

“…Discharge of such contaminants into the surface water bodies degrade water quality which in turn affectaquatic ecosystems and also impair the use of water for household, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes. The surface water pollution due to untreated VWW has been mostly reported from developing countries like Ghana (Aikins & Boakye, 2015), India (Mazumber & Mukherjee, 2011), Pakistan (Yasin, Iqbal, Arshad, Rustam, & Zafar, 2012), and Zimbabwe (Danha, Utete, Soropa, & Rufasha, 2014). Corresponding to these studies, Sato, Qadir, Yamamoto, Endo, and Zahoor (2013) have also reported that in low-income countries, only 8% of industrial and municipal wastewaters are treated.…”