Open cast mining: threat to water quality in rural community of Enyigba in south-eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Enyigba in southeastern Nigeria is one of the agrarian communities facing water scarcity challenges. The open cast mining activities in the region are also compounding the water problems as a result of leakage of heavy metals that pollute the limited water resources. This study is conducted to document the current state of surface water contamination by heavy metals and its impact on domestic and agricultural uses. Thirty water samples were collected from five sources at both the upstream, middle stream and downstream of each of the selected sites. The heavy metals were analysed using the standard laboratory methods. Generally, the average concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in the studied water bodies were 17.68, 4.30, 3.14, 0.05 and 35.57 mg/l, respectively, which were above the WHO permissible limit. Contamination of water above WHO permissible limits with heavy metals in the surface waters, because of open cast mining, is considered a serious threat to both domestic and agricultural usage. The need for establishment of treatment facility, periodic monitoring of heavy metal levels, recycling plants and principal technologies to monitor the mine sites are hereby recommended.

Detection, Distribution and Health Risk Assessment of Toxic Heavy Metals/Metalloids, Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead in Goat Carcasses Processed for Human Consumption in South-Eastern Nigeria

“…Despite that contamination of natural water bodies/pasturelands used for goat production continues to persist, the demand as well as consumption specific to goat carcass in various region of Nigeria continues to increase [ 40 ]. Previous studies largely in Northern region of Nigeria, on THM contamination in FPAs like cattle, camel, goat and sheep slaughtered for human consumption have been reported [ 32 , 41 , 42 , 43 ].…”

A Multi-Level Output-Based DBN Model for Fine Classification of Complex Geo-Environments Area Using Ziyuan-3 TMS Imagery

“…In general, the land use and land cover (LULC) related to open-pit mining is the key in these complex environment areas. In open-pit mining areas, the land use and land cover (LULC) classification represents an important basis for environmental assessment and protection, as well as ground deformation monitoring [ 6 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Owing to issues and challenges related to LULC [ 12 , 13 ] and the wide application of LULC data as the basic input in interdisciplinary studies [ 14 ], LULC has been a popular research target in high-resolution remote sensing techniques [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Hydrogeochemical Assessment of Chemical Composition of Groundwater; A Case Study of the Aptian-Albian Aquifer Within Sedimentary Basin (Nigeria)

“…A group of researchers pointed out that different geologic formations has directly or indirectly influenced the origin and chemical constituents of groundwater in south-south and southeastern part of Nigeria [10,11]. Various authors have also stated that mining activities has influence on groundwater quality [12][13][14]. A researcher stated that unsustainable groundwater development, overexploitation, and improper management of mining waste, wastewater from mining areas causes adverse impact on quality of groundwater [15,16].…”