Wastewater Quality Characteristics as Affected by Industrial Discharges, Its Extent for Environmental Pollution and Implication on Food Security in Ethiopia: A Case Study from at Akaki and Debre Zeit

Abstract

In Ethiopia, there is a growing concern with regard to the adverse effect of industrial discharge on the environment where soil and water qualities are the main pillar of it. The majority of the people who lived in agriculture are highly affected by this consequence. Therefore, this study was conducted on wastewater discharged from industries in the central part of Ethiopia with the objective of studying its quality as affected by these industries, the extend for environmental pollution and their implication on food security efforts in Ethiopia. For these, several wastewater samples were collected at the point of impact and every 100 m from the point of discharges, and characterized for their chemical composition, concentration and proportion of elements in them. The analytical results indicated that the reaction (pH) ranged from slightly alkaline (7.86- textile) to heavily alkaline (9.27- Agro-stone) at Akaki while at Debre Zeit t varies from 7.99 (flower) to 9.23 (East Africa food processing) and heavily saturated with basic cations except Ca²⁺ raising the electrical conductivity to 2.2dS m^-1. Available P, chlorides, sulfate and carbonates and bicarbonates were found to be too high to use for agricultural purposes while micronutrients are too low to affect the wastewater quality. Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) vary from 2.01 (low) to 16.41 (medium) at Akaki while it ranges from 11.19 (medium) to 46.13 (high) at Debre Zeit implying that the high potential of these wastewater to contaminate or pollute the soil. Accordingly, it might significantly affect the soil physico-chemical properties as well as plant growth. Positive Relative Pollution Potential (RPP) and positive ad more than 1 contamination/pollution index (C/P) implying that these wastewater do have a potential to pollute the environment and significantly affecting the food security efforts in the region.

Keywords: Discharges, environmental pollution, food security, soil quality, water quality