dc.description.abstract | Abstract The discharge of industrial effluents into the
environment poses a threat to human health and is of
environmental concern to both plants and animals. Over the
last several years there has been a great deal of pollution
caused by sewerage treatment works and industrial plants
discharging effluents into the environment. This has been
caused to a large extent by rapid population increase in the
cities and towns, which has led to a strain on the plants’
capacities. The industrial effluents from selected industries
in Nairobi’s Industrial area, Kenya were analyzed to
determine the physico-chemical properties which were then
compared to the guidelines of the National Environment
Management Authority (NEMA). The effluents were
collected from four different industrial sites namely General
Plastics Industries Ltd., Bhachu Industries Ltd., Chloride
Industries and Sameer Africa. pH, color, temperature,
chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids
(TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS) and oil and grease were
analyzed using standard analytical methods. The results in
range form for the four sites were as follows: pH 7.4- 8.7;
colour 26-44 Hazen units; temperature 20.5- 27.7 0C; COD
22.22-96.30 mg/L; TSS 25.00-26.37 mg/L; TDS
1080.7-1225.3 mg/L; Oil and Grease 5.71-12.52 mg/L. pH,
colour, and oil and grease for effluent outside Sameer
Industries were above NEMA guideline values for discharge
into the environment. General Plastic Industries had colour,
total dissolved solids and oil and grease all above NEMA
guideline values. Colour, total dissolved solids and chemical
oxygen demand outside Bhachu Industries were also higher.
At Chloride Industries only colour was above the guideline
value. There is therefore need to use appropriate treatment
methods to lower these values.
Keywords Industrial Effluent, Physico-chemcical
Parameters, Industrial Sites, NEMA Standards | en_US |