Effect of magnetic treatment of water on chemical properties of water and sodium adsorption ratio

This study assessed effect of magnetic treatment of water on chemical properties of water, sodium adsorption ratio, electrical conductivity (EC) of the water and the lifespan of the magnetic effect on water. Magnetic flux densities used for treating the water were 124, 319, 443 and 719 gauss. All the cations (Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, Cadmium and Lead) were determined using the Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater by American Public Health Association (APHA, 2005). The mean values of concentration of calcium for magnetically treated water (MTW) for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th days after the treatment were 3.197, 3.166, 3.136 and 3.104 mg/L while for non–magnetically treated water (NMTW) were 3.130, 3.095, 3.055 and 3.020 mg/L, respectively. The mean values of nitrate from MTW were 43.07, 43.04. 42.71 and 42.56 mg/L while for NMTW were 42.73, 42.57, 42.00 41.81 mg/L, respectively. The mean value of sulphate from MTW on the first day was 50.06 mg/L while that of NMTW was 47.80 mg/L. The mean values of SAR with MTW for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th days after the treatment were 9.715, 0.710, 9.769 and 9.717 dS/m while the corresponding values of SAR for NMTW were 9.877, 9.806, 9.94 and 9.976 dS/m. All the values of SAR for NMTW were higher than the values of SAR for MTW. The values of EC were also higher for NMTW than that of MTW. MTW is better for irrigating soil than NMTW that could cause soil salinity.Keywords: Irrigation water quality, magnetic treatment of water, sodium adsorption rati

Development of a simplified slow sand filter for water purification

This study reports the development of a simplified slow sand filter with granular carbon for water purification which could be used for teaching. It was fabricated using transparent perspex glass for the filter chamber, PVC pipe, fine sand, coarse sand and granular carbon for removal of physicochemical and pathogens in the contaminated water. The filter has a50 litres storage tank from which raw water flows into the filter chamber through the pipe. The filter chamber (30 by 30 cm and 100 cm high) has 10 cm layer of granular carbon, three sand layers as the filter bed (30cm depth with grain size 0.20 mm, 20 cm with grain size 0.35 mm and 10 cm with gravel 6.00 mm). Water samples were collected from Asa River. The water sample was poured into the water filter; water samples were collected and analyzed. The filter has a capacity for producing 15.25 litres/h of clean water. The values of turbidity, pH, Electrical conductivity, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron II, Colonies growing on nutrient agent at 37°C in 24 hours and E-Coli for the filtered water were 0.91mg/l, 6.7, 26.8μS/cm, 12.6mg/l, 16.0mg/l, 0.82mg/l, 0.31mg/l, 0.12mg/l, 12 and 8, respectively while the corresponding values for non-filtered water were 6.7mg/l, 7.2, 83.7μS/cm, 28.0mg/l, 20.0mg/l, 1.63mg/l, 0.72mg/l, 0.65mg/l, 40 and 13. The filter reduced E-Coli present in the water by 69%. The slow sand water filter could be used in the school laboratory as a water treatment prototype device for teaching students.Keywords: slow sand filter, water quality, water treatment, granular carbo

Quality Assessment of Drinking Well Water near Dumpsite at Ogidi-Oloje Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the quality of drinking well water near dumpsite at Ogidi-Oloje, Ilorin, Kwara State. Open wells near dumpsite could be polluted due to percolation of chemicals from the decomposition of refuse and scraps of electronic boards having potential of causing diseases to man. Most people at Ogidi-Oloje Ilorin depend on open wells near dumpsite for drinking water during dry season. Water samples were collected from seven open wells (W1 - W6) 9.2 - 18.2 m away from dumpsite and the control well W7 was 45.0 m away from the dumpsite. Physicochemical and bacteriological properties were determined from the water samples during dry season (March, 2019) and rainy season (July, 2019). Phosphate, Cadmium, Lead, Feacal coliform were not detected during dry season but only Feacal coliform was not detected in the water during rainy season. All the values of physicochemical properties of the water were within WHO permissible limits except Iron and Cadmium that above the limits which could cause diseases to mankind. Values of Iron during dry season for six well sources were 3.61, 4.02, 4.26, 3.25, 5.14 and 7.24 mg/L while values for rainy season and control were 0.715, 1.410, 0.650, 0.049, 0.780, 1.110 and 0.775 mg/L(control) but WHO limits is 0.03mg/L. Concentrations of Cadmium in the water during rainy season were 0.010, 0.015, 0.015, 0.020, 0.015, 0.015 and 0.02mg/L(control) but WHO limit is 0.003 mg/L. This study revealed that the water is suitable for consumption during dry season but unsuitable during rainy season. Keywords: well water quality, groundwater pollution, water diseases, dumpsit

Effect of Magnetic Field and Moringa Seed Powder on Wastewater Treatment

This study was conducted to determine the effect of magnetic field (MF) and moringa seed powder (MSP) on wastewater treatment. Wastewater causes environmental and river pollution that are harmful to aquatic animals and toxic to man. Domestic wastewater was collected from the bathroom, University of Ilorin male hostel (Compound G). The wastewater was divided into four portions. First portion was allowed to flow through MF (100 mT) for 40, 60 and 80s. Second portion, 4 litres of the wastewater was poured into 5 litres capacity containers and 100, 150 and 200 mg/L of MSP was added to each container with 2 replicates. Third portion, 100, 150 and 200 mg/L of MSP was added to the wastewater after the wastewater was passed through MF for 40, 60 and 80 s and the fourth portion was the control experiment. Physical, chemical and bacteriological properties of the wastewater were determined after 2 hours. The range of reduction in turbidity for MSP, MF, combination of MSP and MF compared with the control experiment were 3.08-18.46, 9.00-23.08 and 20.03-23.08%, respectively. Reductions of total coliform were 84.21-88.42%, 36.84-47.37% and 75.26-87.89%. The range in reduction ammonia nitrate for MSP, MF, combination of MSP and MF compared with control experiment were 2.96-9.63, 0.00-1.48 and 6.67-8.89%. The values of BOD were 0.82-7.14, 0.82-2.45 and 2.24-8.37%. The results indicated that combination of MF and MSP  reduced physicochemical and bacteriological properties of the wastewater. Combination of MSP and MF is recommended for treating wastewater before discharging into rivers. Keywords: wastewater, wastewater treatment, moringa, magnetized wastewater, water pollutio

Effects of magnetically treated water on germination and growth of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum: Variety uc82b) under poor soil fertility and deficit irrigation

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of magnetically treated water on the survival of tomato plant after germination and growth of the tomato plant under deficit irrigation and poor soil fertility. The soil used in this study was sieved through 2 mm sieve to have a uniform soil particle sizes and to remove some organic matter that was yet to decompose. Water from the University of Ilorin dam was used for irrigating the tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum: variety UC82B) plant. The water was allowed to pass through magnetic treatment pipe for duration of 113 s. The mean magnetic flux density used was 719 gauss (G) measured inside the pipe. The treatments (T1 to T5) were 100 %, 80 %, 60 %, 50 % and 40 % of the water requirement by tomato and each treatment was replicated 5 times. Experimental layout used in this study was a completely randomized design (CRD) with a control experiment set up adjacent to it in the same transparent garden shed. The results showed that tomato plant irrigated with magnetically-treated water exhibited resistance to water stress, poor soil fertility and fungal attack with 52 % surviving after germination while only 24 % of tomato plants survived after irrigation with non–magnetically treated water. The heights of tomato plants using the treated water with T1 to T5 were 548 mm, 381 mm, 342 mm, 301 mm and 286 mm, respectively while those of untreated water were 512 mm, 365 mm, 326 mm, 298 mm and 264 mm, respectively.Keywords: irrigation, magnetically treated water, magnetic water, tomat

Design and fabrication of a simple pedal operated cassava grater suitable for rural dwellers

Food crop in Nigeria is mainly produced by farmers in the rural areas where petrol/diesel for operating engine, electricity and machines for processing agricultural produce are lacking and this usually result to loss of agricultural produce on the farm before and after harvesting. This study was embarked upon to develop a simple pedal operated cassava grater for rural dwellers. The cassava grater was fabricated using locally available materials mainly hardwood for constructing the frame, grating chamber (hopper), grating roller and the outlet. Iron rod of 20 mm in diameter (mild steel) for the shaft, three roller bearings, driven and driver pulleys, belt, bicycle pedal and galvanized sheet (2 mm in thickness) for the grating surface on the grating roller. The frame of the cassava grater was 540 mm wide, 1200 mm long and 1050 mm high and the grater is portable. The grating chamber was 420 by 440 mm at the top where the cassava is fed into the grater and 220 by 440 mm at the bottom inside which the grating roller (190 mm diameter and 300 mm long) grate the cassava into granules. The grating efficiency and capacity of the grater were 90.91% and103.7 kg/h, respectively. The cassava grater could be used for grating cassava tubers in rural areas where electricity and petrol are lacking.Keywords: cassava grater, cassava processing, shaft design, belt transmissio

Creep and morphological evaluation of polypropylene waste modified asphalt for pavement applications

Synoptic findings by researchers have revealed tremendous physic-chemical improvements of polymer modified mixes over the conventional asphalt. Traditionally, laboratory mechanical properties were carried out for asphalt testing, but cannot calibrate simple performance test (SPTs) criteria for fatigue and field performance. Marshall test-sized specimens of polymer asphalt mixtures were engineered with arbitrary contents of 0 to 3.0% polypropylene waste admixed with 4.5 to 6.5% bitumen contents based on relevant literature. Creep deformation involves uniaxial static creep (USC) test using BS 598-111. Morphological examinations were test with Hitachi S-4700 field-emission scan-electron-microscope (FE-SEM). Thirdly, thermal degradation was determined using Shimadzu TGA-50 thermo-gravimetric analyzer. The results showed creep resistivity with fatigue recovery of 23.2% and 28.9% strain reduction at 10oC and 60oC respectively from the optimal 2.0% polypropylene and 6.0% bitumen compared to the control mix. Also, the same mix produced well dispersed and better enhanced pore packaging micro-structure capable of resisting ageing volatization under severe traffic and environmental loading conditions considered. Keywords: Asphalt pavement, polypropylene, creep deformation, age volatization and microstructur

Prevalence and clinical forms of malaria among febrile HIV-infected children seen at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria

Background: Malaria and HIV infections are major health problems facing the world today. Sub-Saharan Africa with 10 percent of world’s population harbors more than half the burden of the scourge. The present study determined the prevalence and clinical forms of malaria among febrile HIV-infected children aged 3months to 15years, seen in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study among febrile HIV-infected children and their control cohort were carried out between May and October 2016. The participants had the following investigations: malarial parasite, packed cell volume, random blood sugar, retroviral test.Results: A total of 140 febrile HIV-infected children aged 3 months to 15 years and 140 febrile HIV-negative age- and gender-matched children were recruited; 100 of the HIV-infected children were on ART and cotrimoxazole. The prevalence of malaria among the febrile HIV-infected children was 71.4% (100/140) which was significantly lower than the prevalence of 94.3% (132/140) among the control group (χ2 27.72, p=0.001). Among the febrile HIV-infected children that had malaria, 54(54.0%) had uncomplicated malaria while 46(46.0%) had severe malaria. Of the 132 controls that had malaria, 48(36.4%) had uncomplicated malaria and 84(63.6%) had severe malaria (χ2 =7.184, p=0.007).Conclusion: Malaria is a problem in HIV-infected children. Since nearly half of the febrile HIV-infected children had severe form of malaria, it is recommended that health promotion, intermittent malaria prophylaxis, early diagnosis and prompt effective treatment should be instituted for HIV-infected children. This may prevent severe form of malaria and its attendant mortality. Key words: Malaria; Prevalence and clinical forms of malaria; Febrile, HIV-infected, Sokoto state

Performance of West African dwarf goats fed Agro-industrial by-products and Pennisetum purpureum hay as dry season feed

This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of West African dwarf goats fed agroindustrial by-products (cassava peels, dried poultry waste, molasses and saw dust ash) based diets. The study lasted for 120 days during which diets formulated with 0% (1), 20% (2), 25% (3) and 30% (4) dried poultry waste (DPW) replaced cassava peels meal (CPM) in the same proportion. The diets were fed as a supplement to Pennisetum purpureum hay (basal). The goats were arranged in a completely randomized design. Parameters included feed intake, digestibility, nitrogen utilization, and growth rate were studied. The dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) intakes (glkgW0.75/ day) were not significantly (p< 0.05) different among treatment means. Animals placed on diet 1 (control) had values of 115.51gW0.75/day and 20.99gW0.75 /day for DM and CP intakes respectively. The digestibility of diet 3 (67.35, 80.77, 70.32, 72.89, 72.69, 74.58 and 59.98%) DM, CP, EE, CF, ADF, NDF, ADL and NFE respectively compared favourably with diet 1. The nitrogen retention was highest in diet 3 (75.7%).The live weight gain (g / day) was highest in animals fed diet 1 and that on diet 3. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences in feed conversion ratio and the cost per kilogram live weight gain was highest in diet 4 with 30 % DPW inclusion. It was therefore concluded that feeding of diet 3 (25% DPW) could lead to improved feed intake, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen utilization and weight gain in WAD goats.Keywords: Agro-industrial by-products, digestibility, nitrogen utilization, WAD goat