ABSTRACT

Abstract— Industries produce enormous amount of effluent every year and the wastewater produced may be released into the surrounding water bodies, treated on-site or at municipal treatment plants. The determination of organic matter in the wastewater generated is very important to avoid any negative effect on the aquatic ecosystem. The scope of the present work is to assess the physicochemical composition of the wastewater produced from one of the brewery industry in Nigeria. This is to estimate the environmental impact of its discharge into the receiving water bodies or the municipal treatment plant. The parameters monitored for the quantitative analysis of brewery wastewater include biological oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrate, phosphates, chlorides, sulphate, pH, turbidity, temperature and colour. The average pH values ranges  from 2.9 to 3.9 indicating that the effluent is highly acidic. The effluent is also very rich in organic content and its discharge into the water bodies or the municipal treatment plant could cause environmental pollution or damage the treatment plant.

Keywords—Brewery wastewater, environmental pollution, industrial effluents, physicochemical composition, BOD, turbidity.