The bacterial and physico-chemical properties of hair salon wastewater and contaminated soil in Benin metropolis

Abstract

The bacterial and physico-chemical properties of hair salon wastewater and contaminated soil in Benin metropolis were investigated. Investigations were carried out on five hair salons from different locations in Benin City. The physico chemical analysis showed that Ugbowo samples had the highest chemical oxygen demand of 208.00 mg/l, while Ekenwan had the highest biological oxygen demand of180.00 mg/l with a constant temperature of 28.3°C for all samples. It was observed that the wastewater samples from the five different locations were not highly contaminated as the mean bacterial count of 2.48 x 10³ to 4.88 x 10³cfu/ml was observed. Mean bacterial count for contaminated soil samples ranged from 3.52 x 10³ to 6.86 x 10³ cfu/gm. Microorganisms isolated include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp. and Klebsiella sp. with S. aureus occurring most.

Key words: Hair salon, wastewater, soil sample, bacterial counts, Benin metropolis.