Abstract
An investigation into the pollution of stormwater runoff from automobile workshops in Nigeria was performed. Also, multivariate regression was used to predict the pH, oil, and grease (O&G) as well as the electrical conductivity (EC) in relation to the characteristics of the solids and metals pollutants of the untreated automobile workshop stormwater. The results indicated that automobile workshops contributed notable amounts of pollutants to stormwater runoff. Results were compared with Nigerian and USEPA standards. It was found that most of the parameters had mean value ranges far greater than standard limits. The multivariate regression showed variations in the results obtained from different automobile workshops. These variations could be due to the influence of factors such as the volume of automobile servicing activities and the waste generated from these activities that flow in the stormwater runoff. However, the bulk of the EC and pH of the stormwater were associated with the concentrations of the total dissolved solids and copper while the bulk of the O&G concentration was associated with the concentrations of lead and cadmium. It is recommended to treat automobile workshop stormwater to prevent detrimental effects in aquatic systems. Future research is aimed at modeling such treatment using multivariate regression techniques is warranted.
Highlights
Economic activities in Nigerian urbanized areas have been identified as non-point sources of pollution in natural water bodies (Ohwo & Abotutu 2015)
The results showed that the overall contamination of soils within the selected study areas was very high for Lead, Nickel, Cadmium, and Cobalt
This study has shown that there is a strong association between the electrical conductivity of the automobile workshop stormwater and the total dissolved solids contained in the water sample
Summary
Economic activities in Nigerian urbanized areas have been identified as non-point sources of pollution in natural water bodies (Ohwo & Abotutu 2015). Automobile workshops are included in such activities and generate, inter alia, debris, waste, oils, and greases that are conveyed, untreated, via stormwater drainage systems to natural water bodies. This contributes to the high degree of surface water pollution (Chukwu 2017). This stormwater runoff pollution source has received little attention to date. Automobile workshops and the pollution they generate are distinct from typical diffuse urban pollutant sources due to the activities of the host, requiring a case-specific approach. Automobile workshops are typically spatially dispersed in the study towns making a centralized treatment system impractical; and funding opportunities for stormwater quality improvement applications in these cases are limited
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