PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF POWER PLANT EFFLUENT DISCHARGE ON EKEMAZU STREAM IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Water is one of the most fundamental elements which make man and the entire ecosystem exist on this planet earth (Akatah et al., ۲۰۱۸). Water is a vital component of the development of an area and as such, human settlement is to a large extent dependent on the availability of reliable sources of water preferably in close proximity to the settled localities (Edet et al., ۲۰۱۲). The availability of drinking water is an indispensable feature for preventing epidemic diseases and improving the quality of life (Daniel et al., ۲۰۱۲). Water also plays very important role in many industries such as power plant, food and cosmetics industries, as well as Pharmaceutical industries, hence, its quality is very crucial (Ogbonna, ۲۰۱۰). However, these industries and some human activities heighten surface water’s exposure to various kinds of pollution with deleterious chemicals and pathogenic microorganisms (Prerana and Vijay, ۲۰۱۳). As such, most rural villages in developing countries have poor access to safe clean water supply. Chemicals which cause stream pollution from industries are ammonia, phosphate, hydrocarbon compounds, herbicides and pesticides (Suha, ۲۰۱۳).Polluted water bodies pose a very great health risk to people using such water for drinking, bathing, irrigation of crops which are eaten raw, fishing and recreational activities (Decker & Simmons,۲۰۱۳). The components and characteristics of polluted water bodies are dependent on the source(s) of its pollutants (Osibanjo et al., ۲۰۱۰). The industrial sector is responsible for the release of hazardous substances/wastes resulting in pollution of the receiving water bodies with hazardous components (Govindaraju et al., ۲۰۱۱). Water bodies polluted by effluent from combined cycle power plant contain compounds such as ammonia, phosphate, dissolved solids, free Chlorine, Phosphate, and Chlorides (Mishra, ۲۰۱۰).