Comparative%20Assessment%20of%20Soils%20in%20Automobile%20Repair%20and%20Non-Automobile%20Repair%20Sites%20in%20Abakaliki,%20Southeastern%20Nigeria%20By%20Njoku,%20C.%20and%20Ngene,%20P.N.%20Department%20of%20Soil%20Science%20and%20Environmental%20Management,%20Ebonyi%20State%20University,%20P.M.B.%20053,

1
Comparative Assessment of Soils in Automobile
Repair and Non-Automobile Repair Sites in
Abakaliki, Southeastern NigeriaByNjoku, C.
and Ngene, P.N.Department of Soil Science and
Environmental Management, Ebonyi State
University, P.M.B. 053, Abakaliki, Nigeria
2
ABSTRACT

• An experiment was conducted at automobile repair
  and non-automobile 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

3
Key Words

• Automobile repair site
• Oil
• Plant nutrient
• Soil
• Wastes

4
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.

5
Materials and Methods

• Site description and soil sampling
• Laboratory Analysis
• Data Analysis

6
Site Description and Soil Sampling

• 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.

7
Laboratory Analysis

• The pH of the soil was determined using a
  suspension of soil and distilled water in the
  ratio of 25 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)

8
Data Analysis

• Statistical analysis of the data was carried out
  using standard error of the mean (Steel and
  Torrie, 1980).

9
Result and Discussion

• The results of selected chemical properties of
  soils of automobile repair and non-automobile
  repair sites are presented in table 1.

10

• 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) 4.310.011
  5.960.005
• Organic Carbon () 1.950.015
  0.940.020
• Total Nitrogen () 0.150.017
  0.170.011
• C/N Ratio 13.000.012
  5.230.003
• Available P (mgkg-1) 7.080.05
  10.260.015
• Ca (cmol()kg-1) 4.640.005
  5.070.005
• Mg (cmol()kg-1) 1.560.017
  3.710.017
• K (cmol()kg-1) 0.110.005
  0.180.003
• Na (cmol()kg-1) 0.180.009
  0.250.013
• TEA (cmol()kg-1) 1.390.006
  1.220.012
• TEB (cmol()kg-1) 6.490.013
  9.210.014
• ECEC (cmol()kg-1) 7.880.003
  10.430.011
• BS () 82.36 0.011
  88.300.006

11
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.

12
Organic Carbon and C/N Ratio

• On the other hand, higher organic carbon, and C/N
  ratio were recorded in automobile repair site
  than non-automobile 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.

13
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 non-automobile 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.

14
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.

15
References

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16
References Continued

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17
References Continued

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18
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