MODELLING OF POLLUTANT TRANSPORT IN RIVER BENUE DOWNSTREAM OF YOLA, NIGERIA: AN ENGINEERING APPROACH
This paper is aimed to study river pollution and pollutant propagation performed by using advective-dispersion equations and computer implementation for best management decisions. Sampling of water started from the headwaters of the river at Cameroon Mountains and at three other downstream reaches of Yola in cleaned pre-conditioned plastic bottles for analysis of both physical and chemical pollutant concentrations. The samples were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS 500) model. Mathematical model of mass balance equations of fluid flow were developed using Matlab tool to predict the flow pattern of these pollutants. The results indicate that most of the pollutant concentrations were above WHO (2007) permissible limits. However, Fe, Cu, Ni, and Cr exceeded recommended limits. The output of the model showed a one-dimensional non-uniform linear graph, and the estimated water flow velocity in the river was 0.66 m/s over a distance of 1.5 km in 15 minutes. The model was validated by comparing measured and predicted data which indicated a reasonable agreement in the shapes of pollutant flow curves.
Authors : B. R. Burmamu, P. L. Law, T. S. K. Tya, and A. H. Hong
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 4(1) Date Uploaded : 9th October 2018