Abstract:
The disposal of household, municipal, and industrial waste indiscriminately on the soils in major
cities in Nigeria is a major environmental challenge in the developing world. In this present
investigation soil samples were collected from the soils of the selected waste dumpsites in
Makurdi metropolitan area and analyzed for the physicochemical parameters using standard
methods. The t-test analysis was significant across the physicochemical parameters at 0.05 level
of significance in the course of the study. Similarly, results showed significant and positive
relationships at 0.01 level of significance indicating that the waste dumped on the sites are the
loading source of the elevated concentration of the soil characteristics during the study period.
The study revealed that the elevated concentration in the parameters of soil quality of the waste
dumpsites may be washed or leached into the groundwater and surface water sources that
constitute the major source of domestic water in Makurdi. This situation can cause a health
menace and environmental pollution due to the human consumption of theses water sources
without adequate treatment thereby compromising the public health and constituting a nuisance
to the residents of Makurdi, Nigeria. The study recommends that waste should be recycled and
proper dumping facilities should be provided by the regulatory authorities instead of being
dumped recklessly on soil to the preserve the quality of the environment and protect public
health. |
