Evaluating the Efficiency of Treatment Plant and Suitability Study of Effluents from Bedele Brewery Share Company for Agricultural Activity

Abstract

The Brewing industry is an important one in the food industry, economics, and employment in the world. Bedele Brewery Share Company is one of the Brewing industry and it discharges its treated effluent before discharging into the nearby which can serve as an irrigation source for downstream farmers. This study focuses on the evaluations of the efficiency, wastewater treatment plant and suitability of the effluents for potential agricultural irrigation. Temperature, pH, Turbidity and EC were determined on-site by mercury thermometer, multimeter, Palin test, and multimeter respectively. TS, TDS, TSS and VSS were determined by the gravimetric method in the lab. Phosphate was determined by spectroscopic method and chloride as well as COD was determined by titration through Mohr‟s method. BOD and microorganisms (TC and FC) were determined by incubation and dilution methods respectively. The results demonstrate that the treatment plant efficiently removes various pollutants from the influent. The effluent average of averages for Temperature were recorded as (24.14±0.91), pH (6.61±0.14), Turbidity (429.95±0.82 NTU), EC (222.35±1.07μs/cm), TS (142.55±3.59 mg/L), TDS (114.89±5.22 mg/L), TSS (27.89±2.87 mg/L), VSS (54.44±4.79 mg/L), Cl- (82.83±6.46 mg/L), PO4 3- (3.77±0.08 mg/L), BOD (65.3±0.63 mg/L), COD (44.8±5.54 mg/L), TC (9*104±424.26 CFU/mL), and FC ( 2*104±70.71 CFU/mL, 2*104±282.84 CFU/mL) in across three days. The Bedele Brewery treatment plant was effective in removing a wide range of contaminants from the influent wastewater. The percentage removal of most parameters is above 86% in three different days with slight variations in each parameter. The highest percentage removal was achieved for EC (87.08%), followed by TDS, TS and TSS (94.81%, 94.47% and 95.87%), in three days respectively. The percentage removal for FC and turbidity were also high on three different days with FC (63.99%) and turbidity (63.18%). The percentage removal for BOD (34.94%) and COD with (54.80%). The findings demonstrate that, the effectiveness of the Bedele Brewery treatment plant in reducing various pollutants. However, further improvement is required. .