Pollution effects on a tropical stream: the Nairobi River.

Nairobi River flowing through Kenya's capital city provides an excellent example of a heavily polluted river. Pollution of the Nairobi River (Kenya) has gone on unabated for 75 years. But prior to the Second World War the pollution most likely would have been organic material and railroad oil waste. After the Second World War pollution become a complex mixture of urban sewage, industrial effluents and surface runoff containing large amounts of silt. The present major sources of the river pollution in the section through the city are the two city sewage treatment plants, the Nairobi Railway yards and various factories and oil companies in the industrial area. The water in the river is black, extremely odorous with bubbles of methane and hydrogen sulphide, and contains large amounts of dark suspended material. Unsightly oil slicks float on the surface completely coating and killing any emergent aquatic vegetation.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Njuguna, Stephen Gichuki
Format:	Journal Contribution biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	1979
Subjects:	Pollution effects, Environmental impact, Man-induced effects, Sewage, Industrial wastes, Organic wastes, Waste water, Runoff, Urbanization, Urban runoff,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/1834/6794
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!