Impact of Palm Oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq; Banga) Mill Effluent on Water Quality of Receiving Oloya Lake in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Water samples from Oloya lake receiving palm oil mill effluents were characterized and compared with raw palm oil effluents to determine the level of contamination. The ranges of nutrients and heavy metal concentrations in palm oil effluent were 450-590 mg L 1 N, 92-104 mg L 1P, 1246-1262 mg L 1K, 249-271 mg L 1Mg, 0.06-0.10 mg L 1Cd, 0.25-0.63 mg L 1Pb, 5.58-6.32 mg L 1Cu and 1.25-1.35 mg L 1Cr while the ranges of concentrations in water were 1.08-1.16 mg L 1 N, 0.88-1.02 mg L 1 P, 8.65-8.95 mg L 1 K, 0.97-1.07 mg L 1 Mg, 0.05-0.07 mg L 1 Cd, 0.03-0.05 mg L 1 Pb, the concentrations of Cu and Cr (0.01 mg L 1) did not vary. POME was found to contain high concentrations of plant nutrients. The concentrations of the parameters were higher in palm oil mill effluents than in the water. Analysis of variance showed significant difference (p>0.05) between the levels of the parameters in palm oil mill effluents and water and in minerals and heavy metals. Appreciable levels of the nutrients N, P, K were measured with K as the most prevalent nutrient. The results generally showed that POME has polluting effects and high volumes of such effluents are not fit to be discharged into water bodies.