ABSTRACT

Effluent is inevitable in the industrial world but its discharge into the surface lands and surface flows has been a very serious problem as it poses a serious threat to future environmental sustainability. The rapid growth in population and industrialization cause generation of large quantities of effluents. The bulk effluents generated from industrial activities are discharged either treated or untreated over the soil leading to changes in soil properties causing improvement or degradation of engineering behaviour of soil. If there is an improvement in engineering behaviour of soil, there is a value addition to the industrial wastes serving the three benefits of safe disposal of effluent, using as a stabilizer and return of income on it. If there is degradation of engineering behaviour of soil then solution for decontamination is to be obtained. This work entails the study of three effluents from the crude oil, vegetable oil and noodles industries. The Physico-chemical properties of these effluents were obtained. In order to determine the effects of these effluents on the engineering properties of the soil, a test was carried out on the engineering properties of the untreated soil. Thereafter, the soil was treated with varying percentage of effluents ranging from 40%, 60% and 100%. The results showed that there was a decrease in Maximum Dry Density (MDD), while there was an increase in the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC). The Liquid Limit (LL), Plastic Limit (PL), Plasticity Index (PT) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values also increased with increase in the percentage of effluent.