Evaluation of Physicochemical Properties and Heavy Metal Content of Domestic Wastewaters Treated With Clay-To-Stone Formulation from Urovie and Agbor in Delta State and Aba in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

Wastewater treatment processes eliminate contaminants before being discharged into the immediate environment. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the physicochemical properties and heavy metal content of the kitchen, toilet, bathroom and laundry wastewaters treated with clay-to-stone formulations from Urovie (UR) and Agbor (OT) in Delta State and Aba (AB) in Abia State, Nigeria using various standard methods. Mineralogical and geochemical composition revealed the clays as predominantly kaolin, smectite, illite, mixed layer quartz and saponite. The presence of Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ confirmed the hydrated aluminosilicate nature of the clays. An improvement of clay with small stones in the ratio 1:4 (clay to stone) employed in the treatment of the wastewater effluents reveals that pollution biomarkers were significantly altered after treatment using all three enhanced clay formulations (UR, AB and OT). Treatment of wastewater using enhanced clay formulation can therefore be thought of as an effective wastewater purification system. It is a simple, low-energy consuming and cost-effective decentralized wastewater treatment system.