Comparative Assessment of Soils in
Automobile Repair and Non-Automobile
Repair Sites in Abakaliki, Southeastern
Nigeria
By
Njoku, C. and Ngene, P.N.
Department of Soil Science and
Environmental Management, Ebonyi State
University, P.M.B. 053, Abakaliki, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
• An experiment was conducted at automobile repair and nonautomobile repair sites in Abakaliki to compare the selected
chemical properties of soils of automobile repair and non-automobile
repair sites.
• A survey of the study area was carried out and automobile repair
and non-automobile repair sites were selected.
• Five replicates soil samples each were collected at 0 – 30 cm depth
in each sites.
• Data collected were analysed using standard error of the mean.
• Results of the study showed that automobile repair site recorded
higher total organic carbon, C/N ratio and total exchangeable acidity
than non-automobile repair site.
• On the other hand, lower pH, total N, available P, Ca, Mg, K, Na,
total exchangeable bases, effective cation exchangeable capacity
and base saturation were observed in automobile repair site than
non-automobile repair site.
• Soils of automobile repair sites are not good for crop production
since they are low in plant nutrients
Key Words
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Automobile repair site
Oil
Plant nutrient
Soil
Wastes
Aims
• The aim of this study is to compare the
selected chemical properties of soils of
automobile repair and non-automobile
repair sites in Abakaliki, southeastern
Nigeria.
Materials and Methods
• Site description and soil sampling
• Laboratory Analysis
• Data Analysis
Site Description and Soil Sampling
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Ten automobile repair sites spreading within Abakaliki metropolis were
surveyed and the automobile repair site at Ogoja road, opposite Abakaliki rice
mill and adjacent College of Agricultural Science, Ebonyi State University was
selected.
This site is a major and the biggest automobile repair site in Abakaliki.
An arable land at Ebonyi State University, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural
Resources Management Research Farm was used as non-automobile repair
sites.
Abakaliki lies at latitude 6o 19’ N and longitude 8o 06’ E in the derived
savannah of the southeast agro-ecological zone of Nigeria.
It has a mean annual rainfall of 1700 – 1800 mm.
The rainfall pattern is bimodal between April – July and September –
November with short spell in August.
According to Ofomata (1975) the minimum and maximum temperatures of the
area are 27oC and 31oC respectively.
The relative humidity of the area is between 60 – 80%. The soil belongs to the
order Ultisol and is classified as Typic Haplustult (FDALR, 1985).
Soil samples were obtained in five replicates at each site at depths of 0 to 30
cm using soil auger. Each sample was immediately placed in a fresh plastic
bag and tightly sealed. All the samples were transported to the laboratory
where on arrival, analytical procedure commenced in earnest.
Laboratory Analysis
• The pH of the soil was determined using a suspension of
soil and distilled water in the ratio of 2:5 – soil: water
(McLean, 1982).
• Total nitrogen was determined using modified kjeldahl
digestion procedure (Bremmer and Mulvaney, 1982).
• Organic carbon was determined by the method of
Nelson and Sommers (1982).
• Available phosphorus was determined by Bray 11
method (Olsen and Sommers, 1982).
• Exchangeable bases were determined using Chapman
(1982) method.
• Exchangeable acidity was determined by the titration
method (Juo, 1979).
• Effective cation exchange capacity and base saturation
were determined by the summation and calculation,
respectively (Njoku and Mbah (2012)
Data Analysis
• Statistical analysis of the data was carried
out using standard error of the mean
(Steel and Torrie, 1980).
Result and Discussion
• The results of selected chemical
properties of soils of automobile repair and
non-automobile repair sites are presented
in table 1.
Table 1: Selected chemical properties of soils of
automobile repair and non-automobile repair sites
Parameter
Automobile Repair site
Non-automobile
Repair site
pH (H2O)
4.31+0.011
5.96+0.005
Organic Carbon (%)
1.95+0.015
0.94+0.020
Total Nitrogen (%)
0.15+0.017
0.17+0.011
C/N Ratio
13.00+0.012
5.23+0.003
Available P (mgkg-1)
7.08+0.05
10.26+0.015
Ca (cmol(+)kg-1)
4.64+0.005
5.07+0.005
Mg (cmol(+)kg-1)
1.56+0.017
3.71+0.017
K (cmol(+)kg-1)
0.11+0.005
0.18+0.003
Na (cmol(+)kg-1)
0.18+0.009
0.25+0.013
TEA (cmol(+)kg-1)
1.39+0.006
1.22+0.012
TEB (cmol(+)kg-1)
6.49+0.013
9.21+0.014
ECEC (cmol(+)kg-1)
7.88+0.003
10.43+0.011
BS (%)
82.36 +0.011
88.30+0.006
pH
• Automobile repair site recorded the lower pH
value of 4.31.
• This observed pH value in automobile repair site
was lower than that of non-automobile repair site
by 28%.
• This lower pH observed in automobile repair site
than non-automobile repair site may be as a
result of acidic automobile wastes that entered
the soil and increasing its acidity.
Organic Carbon and C/N Ratio
• On the other hand, higher organic carbon, and C/N ratio
were recorded in automobile repair site than nonautomobile repair site.
• These higher values of organic carbon and C/N ratio
may be attributed to the presence of spent lubricant oil
and petroleum products that are among the wastes
produced in automobile repair sites.
• The high amount of organic matter in the studied soil
samples is quite obvious since the soil is contaminated
with automobile fuels that are composed of hydrocarbon
and PAHs (Atlas, 1981; McMurry, 2000; Clayden and
Greeves 2001).
• Similarly, this result was inline with Bahuguna et al.
(2011) who noted that the soil samples from automobile
repair work stations demonstrated significantly higher
total organic carbon, total PAHs contents and soil
temperature while showing lower moisture contents and
bacterial counts.
Total N, Available P, Exchangeable
bases and Total Exchangeable acidity
• The results also showed lower total N, available
P, Ca, Mg, K, Na, TEB, ECEC, BS and higher
TEA in automobile repair site than nonautomobile repair site.
• These are plant nutrients which when they are
lacking in soils will reduced the quality of the
soils and the yield of crops growing in that soil.
• Thus, the soils of automobile repair site are not
good for crop production and should be put into
alternative use.
Conclusion
• This study showed that the soils of
automobile repair site are of low quality.
• It is high in organic carbon, low in soil
major nutrients and pH.
• Therefore, such soils should not be used
for crop production but should be used for
other non-agricultural ventures.
References
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“An
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