Waste Water Treatment with Conventional Materials (Chlorine, Aluminium Sulphate, Polyelectrolyte) as Well as Local Materials (Activated Charcoal and Burnt Bricks) in Makurdi Benue State Nigeria: A Comparative Study

Used water from restaurants hands and utensils washing was collected for pilot treatment. Red burnt bricks known to contain a small amount of iron oxide and activated charcoal crushed together were used as traditional means of water coagulants .The impurities in water became suspended particles and gradually settled to the bottom of the container used .Large heavy particles settled out readily, smaller and lighter particles settled down more slowly . Conventional water treatment chemicals (0.25% aluminum sulphate solution and 0.25 % polyelectrolyte ) were added to another sample of the same waste water and the impurities were brought together into larger, heavier masses of solids called floc which also settled down . In both samples chlorine as sodium hypochlorite in granular form was added 2.5g while softening was achieved by adding 0 .25 % Soda ash -sodium trioxocarbonate (iv) Na2CO3 . In both samples results show the values of the physicochemical parameters (Conductivity Turbidity Odour Temperature oC Colour Suspended Solids mg/L Oil in Water mg/L Total Dissolved Solids mg/L and Total Solids mg/L ) reduced almost to zero levels and close to WHO/NIGERIA Allowable Standards 2005. This renders credibility to the use of both conventional and local materials for water treatment effectively and the need to source for more environmentally local materials for such purpose . Keywords: Physico-Chemical, Waste Water, Heavy Particles, Sustainability, Turbidit

Phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity of Cissampelos mucronata a. Rich (Menispermaceae) extracts

Phytochemical screening of various extracts of Cissampelos mucronata, obtained using soxhlet apparatus showed presence of alkaloids, tannins and saponins. These crude extracts demonstrated moderate inhibition activity using Nutrient agar Swab sticks method against four species of bacteria: Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive), and Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli (gram negative). Water and methanol – dichloromethane (1:1) extracts exhibited highest activity. These results lend credence to the use of this plant in traditional medicine in treating bacteria related diseases. Keywords: Garlic; Cissampelos mucronata; Antibacterial activity; Phytochemical screening; Alkaloids. Journal of Pharmacy and Bioresources Vol. 3 (2) 2006: pp. 103-10

Kinetics of Sorption of Pendimethalin on Soil Samples Obtained from the Banks of Rivers Katsina-Ala and

Abstract Kinetics of the sorption of the herbicide, pendimethalin (3,4-Dimethyl-2,6-dinitro-N-pentan-3-ylaniline) on four soil samples obtained from the banks of Rivers Benue and Katsina-Ala, in Central Nigeria was studied by contacting 5.0 g soil samples with 100 mL 7 × 10 −6 M herbicide solution. The sorption was monitored by following the herbicide concentration in the aqueous phase spectrophotometrically at one hour intervals for 5 hours (at 25˚C, 35˚C, 45˚C, 55˚C and 65˚C, respectively). Pseudo-first order kinetics treatment of the data showed that sorption rates as well as the accompanying activation energies were low, indicating that physical adsorption is the operative mechanism for its retention in the soils and that the herbicide tended to reside more in the aqueous phase, which raised its potential to contaminate natural water systems, when applied on the field

Research Paper - TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PRACTICE AMONGST THE IGEDE PEOPLE OF NIGERIA. PART II

A questionnaire-guided ethno-medical survey of the Igede speaking communities of Benue state (Nigeria) was conducted. 90 plant species from 45 families were identified covering 109 recipes against 35 ailments, including internal, external infections and parasitic diseases as well as poisons, pesticides, cuisine and for veterinary purposes. Ageratum conyzoides   was the only plant used in HIV/AIDS disease. Mode of preparation, dosage regimen, plant(s) and part(s) used are reported. The importance of this kind of documentation in research and bio-conservation are discussed