Chemical Composition of Harvested Rainwater around a Cement Factory in Ibeshe, Yewa North, Ogun State

Abstract

This study assessed the physicochemical properties of rainwater in Ibeshe, an area around the Dangote Cement factory in Ogun State.  Rainwater samples were collected as bulk precipitation from April – September 2022 at weekly intervals. Collected rainwater samples  were analyzed for basic composite variables (pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, and total dissolved solids using a portable pH  meter and conductivity meter respectively), and major cations (magnesium, sodium, calcium, iron, arsenic, lead, and silicon). The  AGILENT 720 ICP-OES was used for Mg²⁺, Na⁺ , Ca²⁺, Fe²⁺, K⁺ , and Pb²⁺. All the results obtained show that rainwater in the study area  was basic (6.73 – 7.63) and all the parameters were within the WHO limit. Also, it was observed that the activities of the cement mining  plant had little or no influence on the chemistry of the rainwater in the study area.