Engineering Analysis and Failure Prevention of a Water Treatment Plant in Nigeria

This paper contains a detailed engineering assessment and failure prevention assessment for a water treatment plant in Nigeria. Population data for the university community were collected and the treatment plant was visited. Data on each of the treatment process (unit) were also collected and water consumption per day was computed and compared with standard. An engineering assessment of each of the plant’s units was conducted and failure prevention procedures were suggested. The study showed that the population growth rate fit well with the logistic growth rate to a saturated population of 7383 students in the halls, ‘a’ and ‘b’ (growth rate parameters) were −2.159 and −0.022 per year, respectively. Available water consumption was 76.7 L per capita per day. The water supply to the community could be classified as water to a public area rather than water to a domestic area. Column and settling tanks tests revealed that the retention time of 2 h is adequate for the sedimentation tanks. It was concluded that there is a critical water shortage in the community because of failure of the treatment plant to meet the demand, which can be attributed to lack of rehabilitation of the plant to meet the population growth. Sedimentation tanks and filtration units are to be upgraded to prevent total failure of the plant and minimize the potential for an outbreak of water-related diseases.