Abstract
Samples of effluents from 3 textile processing factories F(1), F(2) and F(3), were characterized for their
pollution potential. The concentrations of solids were found to be 1020, 790 and 1,380 mg/l total solids
for the factories 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The BOD’s and COD’s were 342.8 and 542.4 mg/l for F(1), 123.2
and 224.6mg/l for F(2) and 456 and 738.4mg/l for F(3). The pH for the effluents were 9.36, 8.98 and 9.44
for F(1), F(2) and F(3), respectively. This implies that the effluents were alkaline. The nitrogen and
phosphorus concentrations were 56 and 2.13 mg/l for F(1), 51 and 1.14 mg/l for F(2) and 43 and 0.73
mg/l for F(3), respectively. The levels of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and
chromium (Cr) were higher than the Federal environmental protection agency (FEPA) standards for
effluent discharge. This shows that the textile effluents have severe pollution potentials since the
parameters measured have values above the tolerable limits compared to the FEPA standards. The
results also showed that the ratio of COD: BOD were 1.58, 1.82 and 1.62 for F(1), F(2) and F(3),
respectively, indicating that the effluents may not be able to undergo up to 50% substrate
biodegradation, thus biological processes may not be feasible for the treatment of these effluents. The
high values obtained for the parameters assessed, especially those of the concentrations of the solid
and of the oxygen demands, call for a pretreatment of the effluent before its discharge into water body.
Also, the high conductivity observed shows that sufficient ions are present in the effluents, thus
suggesting that the chemical method of coagulation and flocculation may be an ideal treatment method.
Keywords: Textile wastewater, factory, pollution, substrate, biodegradation, coagulation, flocculation.
