An Assessment of the Treatment of Selected Heavy Metals by the Tamburawa Water Treatment Plant in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

An analysis of water in the Kano River was carried out to determine the concentration of three selected metals;
(Cu, Fe and Mn) before and after treatment by the new Tamburawa plant in Kano, from January to September
2009. This study was situated in the downstream area of the drainage basin, where the Challawa River merges
with the Kano River, so as to capture effluents probably not captured by previous studies and to investigate the
efficiency of the treatment plant in removing metal pollutants. The concentrations of the metals were determined
using the spectrophotometer after digestion of both the raw and treated water samples using the Nitric acid
digestion method. The result of the laboratory analysis revealed that the selected metals were present within the
basin in varying concentrations across the season. Simple percentages were used to ascertain the level of
reduction of the selected metals by the new Tamburawa treatment plant. It was found that the treatment plant
was more efficient in reducing the concentration of the metals during the dry season than the rainy season. Cu
had a concentration of 0.504mg/l in July of which only 34% was removed, Fe and Mn had 1.870mg/l and
0.520mg/l in August and September, but only 20% and 47% were removed respectively. The study concluded
by suggesting proper monitoring of effluent discharge into the river by industries and also the upgrading of the
treatment plant with state of the art facilities for better water treatment.