Qualitative Assessment of Sachet and Bottled Water Marketed in Bauchi Metropolis, Bauchi-State, Nigeria

Quality water is an essential commodity needed for the survival of eco-system and good health. This research present the result of quality assessment of bottled and sachet water sold in Bauchi metropolis. Twenty-three (23) water brands consisting of fifteen (15) sachet water and eight (8) bottled water were collected, physically examined and assessed for their physiochemical and microbiological parameters using standard analytical procedures to ascertain the level of compliance with World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) specification for drinking water. An expression was developed that established the relationship between TDS and EC having a multiplying factor of 0.5 compared to 0.67 of the WHO, 2007 as illustrated in figure 3.1 and figure 3.2. The results from the physical examinations reveals that none of the water brands indicated the mineral composition and batch number, while 20 % of the water brands had no manufacturing and expiry date. The study revealed that the physical and chemical characteristics of the water brands do not wholly meet the recommended standards while the microbiological evaluation revealed that only 26.67% and 75.00% of the sachet and bottled water respectively had total bacteria coli form within the recommended standards. The result shows that 73.30 % and 25.00 % of Sachet and bottled water considered in this study are not fit for Human consumption at the time of the studies. Keywords: Bottled water, Chemical analysis, Microbiological analysis, Physical analysis, Sachet water

Evaluation and flora diversity of Gashaka Gumti National Park-1, Gashaka Sector, Taraba State, Nigeria

This article has been retracted as requested by the authors owing to an unresolved issue bothering on conflict of interest in the article.The alarming rate of ecosystem degradation in many parts of Nigeria has continued to have significant impacts on the country’s resources, conservation potential, and climate. This pressure led to an ecological and geographical survey in Gashaka Gumti National Park 1, Taraba State, Nigeria in 2013 and 2015 to document the species composition across the different vegetation types and geomorphic gradients, and to assess the vegetation loss between 1991 and 2013. Vegetation analysis was done using standard ecological sampling procedures. Digital Elevation Mapping (DEM) was also done to estimate the altitudinal ranges of the Park, while a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated to ascertain vegetation loss over time. Recognized vegetation types are lowland rainforest, southern Guinea savanna, and montane. A total of 426 species were identified belonging to 306 genera and 104 families with Asteraceae dominating (37 spp.). Also, five species which have never been formally documented in any published flora of Nigeria were identified. With respect to habit, 29 grasses, 26 ferns, 19 climbers, 98 forbs, 9 sedges, 79 shrubs, 152 trees and 14 epiphytes were classified. Plant diversity decreased with increasing altitude. The DEM classified the heights of the sampled area into lowland (400 – 933 m), sub-montane (933 – 1467 m), and montane (1467 – 2000 m). The NDVI revealed higher vegetation cover in 1991 than 2013. These results indicate the importance of regular assessment of floristic composition through checklisting of species in national parks for effective and efficient species conservation and management.Keywords: Gashaka Gumti, National Park, floral diversity, geomorphic gradient, DEM and NDV

Coal fly ash supported nZnO for the sorption of triphenyltin chloride/

A laboratory study was performed to study the effects of various operating factors, viz. adsorbent dose, contact time, solution pH, stirring speed, initial concentration and temperature on the adsorption of triphenyltin chloride (TPT) onto coal fly ash supported nZnO (CFAZ). The adsorption capacity increases with increase in the adsorbent amount, contact time, pH, stirring speed and initial TPT concentration, and decrease with increase in the solution temperature. The adsorption data have been analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) adsorption models to determine the mechanistic parameters associated with the adsorption process while the kinetic data were analyzed by pseudo first-order, pseudo second-order, Elovich, fractional power and intraparticle diffusivity kinetic models. The thermodynamic parameters of the process were also determined. The results of this study show that 0.5 g of CFAZ was able to remove up to 99.60% of TPT from contaminated natural seawater at 60 min contact time, stirring speed of 200 rpm and at a pH of 8. It was also found that the equilibrium and kinetic data fitted better to Freundlich and pseudo second-order models, respectively. It can therefore be concluded that CFAZ can be effectively used for shipyard process wastewater treatmen

Coal fly ash supported nZnO for the sorption of triphenyltin chloride

A laboratory study was performed to study the effects of various operating factors, viz. adsorbent dose, contact time, solution pH, stirring speed, initial concentration and temperature on the adsorption of triphenyltin chloride (TPT) onto coal fl y ash supported nZnO (CFAZ). The adsorption capacity increases with increase in the adsorbent amount, contact time, pH, stirring speed and initial TPT concentration, and decrease with increase in the solution temperature. The adsorption data have been analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) adsorption models to determine the mechanistic parameters associated with the adsorption process while the kinetic data were analyzed by pseudo fi rst-order, pseudo second-order, Elovich, fractional power and intraparticle diffusivity kinetic models. The thermodynamic parameters of the process were also determined. The results of this study show that 0.5 g of CFAZ was able to remove up to 99.60% of TPT from contaminated natural seawater at 60 min contact time, stirring speed of 200 rpm and at a pH of 8. It was also found that the equilibrium and kinetic data fi tted better to Freundlich and pseudo second-order models, respectively. It can therefore be concluded that CFAZ can be effectively used for shipyard process wastewater treatment