Chemical investigation of effluents from Chemistry Laboratories of some Senior High Schools in Kumasi, Ghana.

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Date
2012
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Abstract
Many Senior High Schools in Ghana pursue science and science-related courses which require practical exercises. The Governments of Ghana have made conscious efforts to promote the study of science in senior high schools building of science laboratories and Science Resource Centres in selected senior high schools in the country. A variety of chemicals are used in the Chemistry Laboratories. With the increase in population of students who are pursuing chemistry and chemistry related courses, a lot of chemistry practical exercises are performed in the schools. The wastes generated during these practical exercises are disposed of into the sinks without any treatment. The effluents flow through the drains and eventually join water bodies. These water bodies may be used by people who live downstream for various domestic activities and for irrigation. In this study, laboratory effluents from five senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis were taken monthly from November 2010 to March 2011 for analyses. The objective of the study was to determine the quality of effluents from chemistry laboratories in selected Senior High Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana and to assess whether the effluents could cause pollution using general effluent guidelines. The results were run using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and 95% confidence interval was set to determine the significant differences of the situations among the schools. The study revealed that most of the parameters measured were high above the recommended values by EPA Ghana for effluent from industries. There were no significant differences in most of the parameters among the schools. As the effluents flow downstream most of the parameters studied decreased in their levels. It was also found that the concentrations of phosphate were high in all the schools. This can cause eutrophication and harm aquatic life and thereby cause pollution of receiving water bodies.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MSc. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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