Quality Assessment of Wastewater: Physicochemical and Bacteriological Evidence from Dutse Abattoir, North-West Nigeria

This study assessed the quality of Dutse abattoir wastewater being discharged into the environment. Grab sampling method was used to collect twelve (12) wastewater samples over four (4) weeks. Temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrates, sulfate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total heterotrophic bacterial count (THBC) were analyzed using standardized methods. Results obtained show that the overall mean values of pH (6.91), EC (2.6 µS/cm), sulfate (81.7 mg/L), DO (7.05 mg/L), BOD (1310 mg/L) and COD (3543 mg/L) conformed with allowable limits. Nitrate (821.4 mg/L) and phosphate (231.7 mg/L) were found to be above the permissible standards. Mean BOD values were not significantly different (p>0.05) from each other during sampling. THBC for all the samples exceeded the WHO limit, as it ranged between 1.9×10⁴ and 5.6×10² CFU/mL. Results obtained during the conduct of this study have clearly shown that the wastewater generated from the Dutse abattoir was unfit for discharge into the environment.