AN ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MECHANIC WORKSHOP POLLUTED SOIL IN ANYIGBA SUPPLEMENTED WITH FISH POND SLUGE

Abstract

An assessment of the physicochemical properties of mechanic workshop
polluted soil in Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria incorporated with different
concentrations of fish pond sludge (10%, 20% and 40%) was studied for six
months. pH, moisture content, organic carbon, organic matter content, nitrate
and phosphate were analyzed using standard procedures. The results revealed a
range of 6.55 ± 0.53-7.30 ± 0.15 for pH, 14.17±1.34 to 19.30±2.00 % for
moisture content, 0.69 ± 0.52 to 3.21± 0.15% for organic carbon, 0.21 ± 0.12
to 0.92 ± 0.06mg/kg for nitrate and 7.73 ± 0.58 to 15.25 ± 1.80mg/kg for
phosphate. There were no significant differences in the pH of the soil
undergoing bioremediation at 0.05 probability limits. However, significant
differences were observed in the moisture content, organic carbon, organic
matter content, nitrate and phosphate of the mechanic workshop polluted soil
incorporated with fish pond sludge at 95% confidence interval. The findings
from this study revealed that mechanic workshop soil treated with 40% sludge
(M+40%) showed the highest rate of utilization of organic carbon, organic
matter content, nitrate and phosphate compared to 10% (M+10%) , 20%
(M+20%) treatments. Hence, this study recommends the use of higher
concentration of biodegradable organic waste in improving the physicochemical
properties of hydrocarbon polluted soil.