The Pollution Effects of Indiscriminate Disposal of Wastewater on Soil in Semi-Urban Area

The disposal of wastewater is a problem of great concern throughout the world specifically in developing countries. This study investigates the impact of indiscriminate wastewater disposal on soil in Akindeko and Abiola halls of residence at the Federal University of Technology, Akure Nigeria. Soil samples were taken from the wastewater disposal site at the surface and varying depths of 10 cm and 20 cm while the control samples were taken 10 m away from the polluted soil surface. Physico-chemical and  bacteriological properties determined include; colour, odour, soil weight, particle weight, bulk density, porosity, pH, Copper, Manganese, Zinc, Lead, Cadmium, Cobalt, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, bacteria, fungi and coliforms. The results showed that all the  physicochemical and bacteriological properties of the soils have relatively high concentration indicating pollution compared to the control samples. The pH ranged  from 8.7 to 7.2 while Ca and K have a range of 1277 ppm to 773 ppm and 1273 ppm to 754 ppm respectively. The highest concentration of Zn and Mn are19.30 ppm  and 11.70 ppm respectively. It is recommended that a sustainable wastewater treatment plant should be provided to treat all wastewater generated from all hall of residence in the university and at the same time the soils in the area require various remediation technologies like bioremediation and phytoremediation by growing certain plants in the area to minimize the rate of contamination and extent of future pollution problems. This will go a long way in preventing environmental pollution in the study area.Keywords: Wastewater, Pollution, Heavy metals, Soil, Semi-urba

Qualitative Assessment of Some Available Water Resources in Efon-Alaaye, Ekiti State Nigeria

As water is a major life sustainer, hence its portability is of great importance in performing that role well. In this study, various water samples were  collected within Efon-Alaaye for both physicochemical and bacteriological tests. A total of nine (9) water samples were taken for analysis with six (6) from various surface sources and three (3) from groundwater sources in the study area. The mean turbidity value, temperature, total dissolved solids(TDS) concentration, hardness and EC are 2.92 NTU, 23°C, 447.8 mg/l, 48.1 mg/l and 138.4 μS/cm respectively. Manganese has mean value of 0.27 mg/l. The concentration of both copper and zinc ranges from 0.07 – 0.13 mg/l and 0.16 – 0.55 mg/l with an average value of 0.04 mg/l and 0.28 mg/l respectively. Water samples collected were also analyzed for total coliform bacteria and ranged from 1 to 4.6/100 ml with an average value of 3.29 colony/100 ml. On the basis of findings, the physico-chemical analysis reveals that some of the water samples were above the WHO standards for parameters like turbidity and TDS while the bacteriological test reveals that seven (7) of the water samples considered met the WHO requirement of portability while the other two samples contain faecal contaminant as E.coliwas discovered, though at reasonable rate.Keywords: Physicochemical, Bacteriological, Groundwater, Surface water

Contraceptive awareness and use among sexually active breast feeding mothers in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Objective: To assess the level of awareness and correlates of use of family planning services among sexually active breastfeeding mothers attending an infant welfare clinic. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive design. Setting: Infant welfare clinic of the urban comprehensive health centre, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Subjects: Mothers of breast feeding infants aged 8-11 months attending the infant welfare clinic. Results: Awareness of family planning was quite high (95.5%) while current family planning use was quite low (13%). Although the proportion of women who planned for future use of family planning in the sample was high (64%), all current non-users (86.6%) met the criteria for unmet need for family planning. Parity and the number of living children were the only socio-demographic correlates of the respondents that significantly influenced family planning acceptance (

Assessment of the Use of Tourniquet in the Plating of Non-Union of the Tibia

Background: In non-union surgery, tourniquet may be needed to prevent the increased bleeding during surgical dissection caused by fibrosis and provide clearer surgical field in the presence of altered anatomy due to deformity. Tourniquets have been shown to be associated with adverse effects when used in plating acute tibial fractures but the effects in plating non-union of the tibia have not been studiedObjective: This study was aimed at evaluating the appropriateness of using tourniquet in plating non-union of the tibia.Design: An interventional study.Setting: National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano, Nigeria.Subjects: Two groups of patients who had plating of nonunion of the tibia with (Study Group) and without (Control Group) thigh tourniquet. There were 14 patients in each group.Intervention: Application of pneumatic thigh tourniquet in the study group.Main outcome measures: Post-operative pain, postoperative limb size and wound infection.Results: Post-operative pain score (p=0.028) and postoperative limb size (p=0.0001) were significantly greater in Study Group patients at post-operative days 5 and 2 respectively. Study Group patients also stayed longer in hospital (p=0.0039) and had non-statistically significant (p=0.622) higher infection rate (42.9%) than Control Group patients (28.6%). Intraoperative blood loss was significantly greater (p=0.0001) in Control Group patients but no statistically significant difference (p=0.986) in postoperative blood loss was found.Conclusion: Tourniquet should be used with caution in plating non-union of the tibia as it may be associated with increased morbidity.Keywords: Tourniquet, plating, non-union, fracture, tibi

Design of Improved Stormwater Management System for the Federal University of Technology Akure

Stormwater management is becoming a problem in many cities due to rapid urbanization and poor infrastructure. Proper drainage system conveys stormwater from the road to a suitable disposal area. FUTA is well planned with good networks of roads. However, many of them are without functioning drains. The paper presents a pragmatic approach to the design of an improved stormwater management in FUTA. The entire catchment area was divided into subcatchments that form the designated units for data collection. The result of the field work showed that over half (57.31%) of the drainage area are grass land and the paved road covered 10.96%. the unpaved road and built up area covered 10.29% and 9.76% respectively. Others areas are thick forest (7.66%) and rock area (4.02%). The design of stormwater collection systems were based on the principles of hydraulics as explained by Manning. The drain size was based on the maximum discharge from each subcatchment and the time of concentration computed with Kirpichbs formula. If this design is implemented, common flash flood and siltation along roads in FUTA will be completely eliminated.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v33i4.

Sustainable Approach to Wastewater Management in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

Proper disposal of wastewater still remains a major concern in developing countries. As population grows and urbanization increases, more wastewater is generated and there is great awareness on the health and environmental implication of poorly disposed wastewater. This research work develops a sustainable approach to wastewater disposal in the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The existing wastewater disposal system in use in the study area is the septic tank - soakaway system for individual buildings. This approach presents serious problems due to the choice of inappropriate technology, improper siting of infrastructure, lack of adherence to correct design concepts and lack of proper maintenance.Wastewater samples were collected and their properties determined through laboratory tests to ascertain the concentrations of significant physical, chemical and bacteriological constituents for the selection of appropriate wastewater treatment processes. The total estimate of the wastewater generated from various locations was 2.075 million liters per day based on the population of approximately 26,131.Taking into consideration the available pipe sizes in the market a pipe size of 100 mm was found to be suitable for wastewater conveyance from the office and residential areas based on the contributory population. The proposed wastewater treatment plant (three anaerobic ponds of 57.42 m x19.14 m x5 m connected in series) is to be sited at the lowest topographical level which is of suitable distance from the office and residential areas. Implementing this wastewater management approach in the university will mitigate the negative effect of septic tank - soakaway system and present an environmentally sustainable wastewater management approach.Keywords: Wastewater, disposal methods, septic tank, soakaway and anaerobic pon

Utilization of electrochemical treatment and surface reconstruction to achieve long lasting catalyst for NOx removal.

The development of catalysts has seen tremendous growth recently but most strategies only report utilization of catalysts for a few initial cycles without taking into account the influence of oxygen poisoning. Here, the magnetic Fe3O4@EDTA-Fe (MEFe, having a core Fe3O4 particle with EDTA-Fe coating) was investigated as a model catalyst for long-term recycling for the removal of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from NO/O2 mixture, followed by N2O recovery. The concentration of oxygen in the flue gas was found to have a strong impact on NOx absorption and catalytic response. To circumvent the oxygen poisoning, the MEFe was subjected to electrochemical treatment in the presence of neutral red (N.R.) and NO removal efficiency was ∼95 % noted. Furthermore, the surface of the catalyst degraded significantly (p < 0.05) after 6-7 repetitive cycling due to surface catalytic reactions, surface poisoning, oxidation of metallic species as well as residual stresses. The MEFe surface was reconstructed after 7 cycles using EDTA solution and Fe source to achieve similar surface coating as the fresh MEFe catalyst. The reconstructed MEFe exhibited similar NOx absorption capability as the fresh MEFe and the reconstruction loop was repeated several times to achieve long term cycling, which make the catalyst cost-effective. Hence, it is proposed that a successful regeneration process can be employed for promising, sustainable and long-lasting catalytic treatment of air pollutants

The value of indigenous knowledge in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the African Sahel

Adaptation, Africa, Indigenous knowledge, Mitigation, Sahel, Sustainable development,