DEVELOPMENT OF AERATED PITS FOR SHEA BUTTER WASTEWATER TREATMEN

Abstract

ABSTRACT Waste disposal is a big challenge in shea butter industry in the presence of tannin, an environmental pollutant which is toxic to soil microbes, makes the waste recalcitrant to biodegradation and unacceptable to animals as feed. Wastes generated during Shea butter processing are indiscriminately disposed thereby becoming menace to the environment. Local method of shea butter production generates more waste than mechanical and chemical methods. This study evaluates the treatment of shea butter wastewater after processing. Shea butter waste, which includes shea butter wastewater were collected from the study site (Kakapangi shea butter processing mill). Thirty (30) litres of the shea wastewater was taken and carefully introduced into the polyethene bags for each of the dug pit. Thereafter, vulcanizing machine with a capacity of 120 HP was used to aerate each of the pit. After every 15 minutes aeration time, sample were collected, from each of the tagged pit and labelled. Subsequent samples were also collected after 3 days, 6 days, 9 days, and 12 days. Atomic absorption spectrometer was used to determine the concentration of lead, cadmium and ammonia while multiple fermentation tube techniques was used for the determination of total coliform in the shea butter waste water. The result revealed that the higher the aeration time, the lower the heavy metals, cyanogenic glycosides and total coliform bacterial concentration in shea butter wastewater. Conclusively, the aeration technique was found or observed to be effective for treating shea butter wastewater. This study is recommended that the aeration technique can be used to lower the level of heavy metals, cyanogenic glycosides and coliform bacterial accumulation. The wastewater from shea butter processing plant should be properly disposed to avoid contamination of water.