EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SOLID WASTE (REFUSE DUMP) ON SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND WATER IN MOSADOLUWA COMMUNITY IN OSOGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
INTRODUCTION
There has been an increasing concern about the environment in which man lives. Solid wastes mount of rubbish, garbage and sewage are being produced everyday by our urban society. Waste is anything which is no longer of use to the disposer. It can also be defined as any unavoidable material resulting from an activity which has no immediate economic demand and which must be disposed of (NISP 2003). In an attempt to dispose of these materials, man has carelessly polluted the environment. Waste is commonly classified into three. These are solid, liquid and gaseous waste.
Solid wastes are residual from homes, business and institutions. It refers to as a trash, garbage, rubbish, refuse, discards and throwaways that are no longer relevant to the disposer. For examples broken bricks, broken glass and bottles can, plastics, paper, battery casings, plantain skin and nylon (Adedibu, 1982). In a traditional underdeveloped world, a fact that partly reflects the sampling locations considered in the present work, household wastes are completely biodegradables and homogenous.
Consequently, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials now constitute household wastes. In the past, men thought the environment has an infinite capacity to devour its waste without any ill effects. Recently, however, man’s health and welfare are being affected by environmental pollution. These pollutants are substances present naturally in the environment but when released in significant amount by humans, become toxic.
The world health organization (WHO) estimates that more than 20% of the world population (around 1.3 billion people) has no safe drinking water and that more than 40% of all populations lack adequate sanitation (Dastridge and Trent, 1999). Poor water quality is still a significant problem in many parts of the world. It can often limit the use of these vital resources and in more extreme cases can harm human and other life species. Water can also be polluted by substances that dissolve in it or by solid particles and insoluble liquid droplets that become suspended in it (Plant et al; 2001)
The quality of water depends on its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Natural water contains impurities whereas pure distilled water has the principal composition of only hydrogen and oxygen. The quality desired for drinking usually needs treatment to bring it up to the desired water which must not contain disease-causing organisms. The impurities in water are usually due to impurities that are found in air, soil, and waste water from communities and industries.
The generation of solid waste from household’s industries, markets, abattoirs and shops result in improving the standard of living of the inhabitants. These solid wastes can as well contaminate ground water (Meadows, 1995). These leachates consist largely of solids, microbial organisms and in some situations, chemicals and shallow wells are more dangerously polluted (Meadows, 1995).
This project presents findings on the effects of households wastes on ten wells and a stream sited within and around Oke-Baale area in Osogbo Local Government especially those households close to the stream to determine the effects of household wastes on ground and surface water qualities. These wells also serve as sources of drinking water in Mosadoluwa Community, Oke-Baale in Osogbo Local Government. Three samples of the stream water at different point and ten wells were analyzed using physical, chemical and biological parameters as indices.
