Effectiveness of Different Wastewater Treatment Processes for Removing Emerging Contaminants in Kaduna Metropolis
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study assessed the effectiveness of different wastewater treatment processes for removing emerging contaminants in Kaduna metropolis. Wastewater samples were collected from four different sources: domestic, industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical. Four treatment processes: coagulation-flocculation, adsorption, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration were used to remove the target contaminants. The presence of these contaminants before and after treatment was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PAH method) at the University of Ilorin's Chemical Engineering laboratory. The results identified eighteen emerging contaminants: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[c]phenanthrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, 3-methylcholanthrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and dibenz[a,l]anthracene. Nanofiltration proved to be the most effective method, achieving up to 71% removal efficiency for domestic wastewater, and demonstrated high effectiveness for other sources as well. Coagulation-flocculation, ultrafiltration and adsorption showed moderate effectiveness with performance values of 33% - 49%, 33% - 50% and 33% - 44% respectively. Specifically, nanofiltration achieved removal rates of up to 71%, 57% - 71%, 57% - 100%, and up to 86% for domestic, industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical wastewater, respectively.
Author: ISAH A.S
Institution: Federal Polytechnic Bali
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408508561