TITLE:
Assessment of Physiochemical Properties and Heavy Metals Concentration of Municipal Solid Compost (MSWC): A Case Study in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Muhammad Salisu Adamu, Imrana Bello, Buhari Idris, Malami Usman Muhammad, Bashar Abdullahi Hadi
KEYWORDS:
Physiochemical, Municipal Solid Waste, Compost, Heavy Metal
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.10 No.3,
March
20,
2023
ABSTRACT: Nowadays, farmers use municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) as fertilizer on their farmlands. Very scarce information on the quality of MSWC compost is available. As a result, the physiochemical characteristics of compost from ten (10) different dump sites in Sokoto City were evaluated in this study, and the results were compared with standards. According to the findings, the compost has a pH value ranging from 6.78 to 7.47, an electric conductivity between 2.16 to 6.48, organic carbon between (10.0% to 16.5%), organic matter between (0.94% to 14.78%), and a C:N ratio between 2.28 to 9.51. The heavy metals analysis shows an average value of 275.47 ± 89.86, 1.82 ± 1.04, 82.44 ± 28.28, 263.46 ± 91.46, 45.23 ± 11.72, 1.53 ± 0.095, 71.71 ± 21.46 and 0.29 ± 0.39 mg/kg for Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu, Ni, As, Pb, Mn and Cr respectively. The results of the analysis of variance revealed that the levels of heavy metals did not differ significantly between the locations (p-value 0.05). Some of the parameters studied were found to be within the permissible limits established by USA, UNBS/ICS, and WHO regulations.