Impact of fertilizer plant effluent on water quality

The impact of National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria outfall effluent on the physicochemistry and bacteriology of Okrika creek was investigated during the sampling period from May to December, 1998. The National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria outfall effluent, the Okrika creek water and the Ikpukulubie creek (control) water samples were collected. The physico-chemical parameters analyzed for all the samples included temperature, pH, total chloride, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, free ammonia, total phosphate, urea, zinc and iron, while the bacteriological determinations were total culturable aerobic heterotrophic bacteria count and identification of representative isolates. The Okrika creek recorded higher concentrations for all the physico-chemical parameters and bacteria load than the control creek. The higher values of pH, Free NH₃, urea, TDS and the conductivity of the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria outfall effluent above the FEPA standards reflect the poor effluent quality generated by National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria. The bacteria species isolated from the samples include Aerococcus viridans, Alcaligenes faecalis, Bacillus cereus, Citrobacter freundii, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens and Staphylococcus aureus. In general, the investigation revealed that there was an extremely adverse impact on the physico-chemical and bacteriological water quality characteristics of the Okrika creek as a result of the discharge of poor quality effluent from National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria operations.