Comparative Study of River Benue and River Asa Sand in North Central Nigeria as Filter Media

Authors

  • Hemen Emmanuel Jijingi Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Federal University Wukari, P.M.B 1020, Wukari Taraba State - Postcode; 670101, Nigeria
  • Ambo Mamai Ezekiel Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Federal University Wukari, P.M.B 1020, Wukari Taraba State - Postcode; 670101, Nigeria
  • Obioma Kelechi Duru Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Kaduna State - Postcode; 810222 Nigeria

Keywords:

Local Sands, Soil Mechanics, Hydraulic Test and Filtration.

Abstract

This study investigated the comparative use of sands from River Benue at Makurdi and River Asa at Ilorin Kwara State in North- Central Nigeria as filter sands in water treatment. Sand is mostly widely employed as the porous substance (Filter Medium) in filtration plants all over the world and in Nigeria. The sands were subjected to various soil mechanics and hydraulic tests including particle size distribution, specific gravity, acid solubility, porosity, permeability and filterability. The study investigated the physical, chemical and filtration properties of these River sands (local sands) as filter media for water treatment, to determine their filtration performance. The study showed that the local sand from the rivers have effective sizes (Es) of 0.35 mm and 0.40 mm; uniformity coefficient (Uc) of 1.43 and 1.25; acid solubility (%) of 1.05 and 2.10; Specific Gravity of 2.67 and 2.29; Porosity (%) of 42 and 51; permeability (cm/sec) of 4.7 and 1.06 for River Benue and Asa respectively. However, that of  the imported sand from Brazil used as control has effective size (Es) of 0.46 mm; uniformity coefficient (Uc) of 1.48; acid solubility (%) of 0.85; specific gravity of 2.60; porosity (%) of 45; permeability (cm/sec) of 3.5. The maximum head loss obtained for the river sands (local sands) and imported sand from Brazil which was used as control with hydraulic loading rates of 6.45 m/hr and 9.65 m/hr at 16 and 13 hours of filter run time were (11.294, 19.014 and 11.281) cm and (14.467, 24.347 and 14.454) cm of water for River Benue, Asa and imported sand from Brazil respectively.

The results obtained for filter quality of both the Local sands and Imported sand from Brazil which was used as control with turbidity of 32 NTU and 38 NTU and hydraulic loading rates of 6.45 m/hr and 9.65 m/hr at 16 and 13 hours of filter run times were (2.01, 5.09 and 1.13) NTU and (2.79, 5.87 and 2.12) NTU respectively, which were well below the recommended value of 5.0 NTU standard, except that of Asa River in both cases, which is above the recommended standard. Also, the percentage turbidity removal of the local sands and imported sand under the stated conditions were (93.72, 84.09 and 97.03) % and (91.28, 81.66 and 94.42) % respectively. At backwashing rate of 45.9 m/hr, the expansion rate of sand from River Benue, Asa and the imported sand were (25.83, 56.67 and 22.50) % which were within the recommended expansion of (20 – 50) %.  At the end of the study, it was found that, sands from river Benue had similar properties with that of the imported sand from Brazil and this can be used as a substitute for imported sand (as filter media) in water treatment plants while River Asa sand cannot be used as filter media due to its properties were not up to standard as a filter media.

References

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Published

2016-07-29

How to Cite

Jijingi, H. E., Ezekiel, A. M., & Duru, O. K. (2016). Comparative Study of River Benue and River Asa Sand in North Central Nigeria as Filter Media. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 22(1), 243–280. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/1792

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