The present research focuses on the hydrogeochemistry and adsorption study of heavy metals from the Jos wastewater treatment plant. Ten (10) samples were collected from the Nabor-Gwong Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jos and treated with rice husk ash as adsorbent. The study aimed to determine the levels of some heavy metals (Mg, Mn, Co, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr and Cu) in wastewater and their comparison with levels of heavy metals in the treated water after treatment with rice husk ash while the water quality index and pollution indices of wastewater and treated water were also compared. The levels of heavy metals in wastewater, treated water and rice husk ash were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The concentrations of heavy metals were subjected to ANOVA and Spearman's correlation analysis. The results indicated that the concentrations of heavy metals in wastewater such as Mg (0.202-0.427 mg/L), Mn (0.217-0.750 mg/L), Co (0.119-0.222 mg/L), Ni (0.117-1.099 mg/L), Cd (0.426-1.704 mg/L), Pb (0.067-1.566 mg/L), Cr (0.925-2.559 mg/L) and Cu (0.965-2.270 mg/L) were higher than WHO permissible limits for drinking water, background values and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). Treated water shows that Mn, Cu and Pb except for samples I to III fall within WHO permissible limits, background values and NSDWQ while the concentrations of Ni, Cd and Cr exceed WHO permissible limits in the treated water. The heavy metals in the wastewater were reduced significantly after treatment and the average percentage reduction is in the order of Mn (93.00) > Mg (89.71) > Pb (88.46) > Cu (84.94) > Cr (82.60) > Co (75.21) > Ni (72.28) > Cd (67.86) which attest to adsorbent effects of rice husk ash. However, other treatment methods or pH modification of rice husk ash may be necessary for metals which exceed permissible limits in treated water.
Odewumi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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