1.1 Introduction
Brewery wastewater effluent is highly variable in quality and composition. The pollution discharge from brewery plant effluent comes from the losses in the beer production process and from the clean-in-place (CIP) system located in the brewing house, cellar house and bottling house (Egwuonwu et al., 2012).
Brewery plants have been known to cause pollution by discharging effluent into receiving stream, ground water and soil. Water consumption for breweries generally ranges 4-8 cubic meters per cubic meter of beer produced. Production steps include malt production, wort production and beer production. Untreated effluent typically contains suspended solids in range 10-60mg/l per litre, BOD in range 1000- 1500mg/l, COD in range 1800-3000mg/l and nitrogen in range 30-100mg/l.
Effluents from individual process steps are variable. For example bottle washing produces large volume of effluent that, however, contains only a minor part of total organics discharged from brewery. Effluents from fermentation and filtering are high in organics and BOD and low in volume, accounting for about 3% of total waste volume but 97% of BOD. Brewery effluent contains organic material such as spent grains, waste yeast, spent hops and grit. Effluent pH averages about 7 for combined effluent but can fluctuate from 3-12 depending on the use of acid or alkaline cleaning agent (Olajumoke et al., 2010). In the examination of wastewater, about 40% of the filterable solids are organic in nature while 75% are suspended solids (Tchobanoglous et al., 2003; Egwuonwu et al., 2012). The major organic matter in wastewater are protein, carbohydrate and fats and oil, they are however composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Statement of Problems
The problems facing the environment are vast and diverse. Environmentalists have expressed concerns about issues such as global warming, depletion of the Ozone layer, population growth, destruction of rain forests, air pollution, water pollution groundwater depletion and contamination. Water pollution is serious problem globally involving the discharge of dissolved or suspended substances into groundwater, streams, rivers and oceans. A major source of pollution in developing countries is industrial activities and this has gradually increased the problem of waste disposal. Increased industrial activities have led to pollutional stress on surface water both from industrial, agricultural and domestic sources (Ajayi and Osibanjo 1981).
Untreated wastes from processing factories located cities are discharged into inland water bodies resulting to stench, discoloration and a greasy oily nature of such water bodies (Mombeshora,1981). These wastes pose serious threat to associated environment including human health risks (Rahman et al. 1997). Thus there is need to control the pollution of surface and ground water since the public health and wellbeing of the people have a direct link with the availability of adequate quantity of good quality water.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to assess the Mineral Elements Composition of Waste Effluents from Brewery Company in Ibadan Oyo State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To screen ground water and surface water in Brewery Company area of Ibadan, Oyo state.
- To evaluate the toxicological potential of brewery effluent and the pollution factors on water quality in Brewery Company, Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.
1.4 Significance of Study
The introduction of wastewater, high in organic matter and essential nutrients bring about changes in the microflora. Brewery effluents are high in carbohydrates; nitrogen and the cleaning and washing reagents have been proved water pollutants. Biological treatment of the composite combined wastewater significantly removed the organic contaminants in wastewater.
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.5 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Microbial Assessment and Mineral Elements Composition of Waste Effluents from Brewery Company in Ibadan Oyo State.
1.6 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
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