Effect of Wastewater from Kampala Industrial and Business Park on Bukasa Swamp Water.

Abstract

Global environmental water changes are caused by proximate human activities. In Uganda, and the whole world at large, water pollution is a frequent outcry demonstrated further by the loss of flora and fauna in water bodies. The causes of water pollution are largely related to industrial and domestic human activities. In this study, the changes resulting from wastewater discharged from Namanve industrial activities on Bukasa Swamp water quality were investigated. The wastewater was generated from industrial chemical processes including beverages and packaging, paint production and steel processing. Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve was selected as the study area because of the plethora of industrial processing plants it harbors. It thus provided a reasonable representation of the industries in the central region of the Republic of Uganda, national and international levels. The study was done from August 2018 to April 2019. In this study, companies which discharged wastewater were identified. Wastewater samples were collected from the point sources, downstreams and Bukasa Swamp. Physico-chemical study of these water samples was done in the laboratory for a set of selected water quality parameters and their relationships were determined. Parameters studied included potential hydrogen (pH), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), total iron, chloride content, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), apparent color, true color, electrical conductivity (EC), oil and grease, Total Dissolved Salts (TDS), lead, chromium, copper and cadmium. The study revealed that 55.7% of the changes in downstream water quality were attributed to the incoming wastewater while the downstream accounted for 96.7% of the water quality changes in Bukasa Swamp. The study concluded that Bukasa Swamp water quality was affected by the wastewater. It is therefore imperative that NEMA should strictly monitor industrial wastewater quality and ensure conformity to limits prior discharge.