Assessment of Anaerobic Lagoons Efficacy in Reducing Toxicity Levels of Tannery Effluent in Kenya

摘要

Tannery effluent has been associated with both organic and inorganic pollutants worldwide. The most critical area of interest within the tanning industry is the effluent treatment pathway. Indeed the anaerobic lagoons have traditionally been associated as a critical phase of such effluent treatments. For that matter pollutant load and toxicity levels of five interconnected anaerobic lagoons were determined using both chemical and bioassay techniques. The results indicated that high organic and inorganic pollutants were observed. Moreover depletion of oxygen levels resulted to increased anaerobism which induced the conversion of sulphates to the highly toxic sulphide levels as determined by the biosensors. Thus efficacy of anaerobic lagoons is dependent to the chemistry of the effluent and pre-treatment of the waste. However the use of indigenous organisms as biosensor should in future be used to complement the techniques used in this study. This suggested approach will enable the tenets of adaptability and acquired resistance overtime be established.