Abstract
A major serious source of pollution is the industrial effluent discharge by the process industries into the water bodies. Industrial effluent consists of water with varieties of potentially harmful substances. The study analysed the public health effects of effluents discharged from Kaduna textile industry into the waters of river Kaduna. Physicochemical qualities of effluents at the downstream were assessed. Parameters measured include pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, depth, turbidity, biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, nitrate, sulphate, acidity, alkalinity, organic matter and carbon levels and these were simultaneously monitored in the river using standard methods. Unacceptable, high levels of the parameters were observed in the four sampling points during the study period and are severally outside the compliance levels of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) Guidelines and World Health Organization (WHO) tolerance limits for domestic uses. The study recommend the need for the intervention of appropriate regulatory agencies to ensure production of high quality treated final effluents by wastewater treatment facilities in selected villages of Kaduna
Key words: Pollution, textile industry, industrial effluent and water quality.
