Abstract
This work examined the effects of industrial effluents on surface water used for vegetable irrigation in Kano City of Kano State. As the population of Kano increases, more demand is placed on these industries for products thus leading to the generation of large volumes of effluents that are discharged directly into nearby streams without treatment. The usage of this surface water for vegetable irrigation by a significant number of vegetable farmers is a matter of major concern due to the presence of pollutants. Some of the field measurements were carried out insitu while others were taken to the laboratory for analysis. Groundwater samples were taken from a borehole and two hand-dug wells while surface water was taken from point of discharge and two other points along the Challawa River which is the main source of water for vegetable irrigation. Composite soil samples were taken from four points within the vegetable farms. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Ministry of Environment standards were used as baseline standards for limits. Results show that presence of Fe, Pb, Mn, Cr and Cd were found to be above the FMEnv limits in the soil, the presence of SO4, Cu and K were also found to be above the FMEnv limits as well in groundwater while BOD, NO2 and Cr were above the FEPA limit for surface water. Some of the recommendations include constant monitoring for the presence of heavy metals in soils and irrigation water and that the need for the construction of both primary and secondary treatment plants has become essential.
Highlights
The increasing population in Kano has led to a rapid urbanisation and industrialisation
Consequential indiscriminate discharge of large volume of effluents comes from these industries. These effluents discharged from the industries that eventually end up in the Challawa River have a dense concentration of vegetable farmers using them for irrigation from point of discharge till they mix with the River
Ground water samples were obtained from one borehole and two handdug wells found in the area while surface water samples were obtained from point of discharge and two other points along the Challawa River
Summary
The increasing population in Kano has led to a rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. A consequential indiscriminate discharge of large volume of effluents comes from these industries. These effluents discharged from the industries that eventually end up in the Challawa River have a dense concentration of vegetable farmers using them for irrigation from point of discharge till they mix with the River. The irrigation water quality depends on a number of factors for its successful application and beneficial uses (Hussain et al, 2010). These factors include soil type, crop selection, climatic conditions, and irrigation methods. Metalliferous mining and processing, dumping of wastes and industrial effluents as in the case of Kano, often produce severe heavy metal pollution (Baker et al, 1994). “Heavy metals” is a general collective term, which applies to the group of metals and metalloids with atomic density greater than 4 g/cm or 5 times or more, greater than water (Nriagu and Pacyna, 1988)
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