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ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at investigating the speciation of phosphorus at the effluent discharge point of a brewery in Benin City, Nigeria. The phosphorus concentration of the overlying water were measured using standard methods. For the extraction of different phosphorus forms in sediments, the modified William’s protocol adopted by the Standards, Measurements, and Testing Programme (SMT) of the European Commission was utilised, and the analysis was carried out using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that the values for phosphorus (149 – 331 μg L-1) in the overlying water were all within the permissible limit set by the National Environmental Standards Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). For the phosphorus fractions in sediments, the inorganic phosphorus content (468 μg g-1 to 3450 μg g-1) was higher than the organic phosphorus content (130 μg g-1 to 550 μg g-1), while the NaOH-P concentrations (240 μg g-1 to 1877 μg g-1 ) was higher than that of HCl-P (130 μg g-1 to 747 μg g-1). NaOH-P was the main inorganic phosphorus fraction accounting for over 50% of inorganic phosphorus across all the months. The total phosphorus with a concentration range of 598 - 3632 μg g-1 recorded a decrease in the monthly averages as the study extended into the dry season viz: November (2022 μg g-1) > December (1384 μg g-1) > January (1143 μg g-1). The concentrations of phosphorus in the overlying water and sediments may not pose an immediate threat to the aquatic ecosystem of the river. However, routine monitoring of the effluent discharge point is recommended to prevent the occurrence of nutrient pollution.
