**1. Introduction**

Due to an increase in industrial activities, environmental pollution is one of the most critical problems in developing countries. More challenging is the unsafe disposal of solid wastes/industrial wastes into the ambient environment. Industries that use large amounts of water in their processes include chemical manufacturing, steel plants, metal processors, etc. Effluents and most products from industries create

serious pollution to water bodies and soils. Water bodies especially freshwater reservoirs, and rivers are the most affected. This has rendered underground and surface waters unsafe for human, recreational, and agricultural use. Biotic life is destroyed and natural ecosystems are infected. Human life is at risk and the principle of sustainable development is compromised [1].

Moderately or untreated industrial effluents may contain high levels of pollutants which in water body systems cause an increase in BOD, COD, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), toxic metals such as Cd, As, Cr, Ni, and Pb, and fecal coliform. Hence make such water unsuitable for drinking, irrigation, and aquatic life support. Industrial wastewater impacts include high BOD from biodegradable wastes such as those from human sewage, pulp and paper industries, slaughterhouses, tanneries, and chemical industries [2–4].

Brewery wastewater effluent is highly variable in quality and composition. The products of the brewery operations include large volumes of wastewater from liquors pressed from grains and yeast recovery, from the Clean-in-place system located in the brewing house, cellar house, and bottling house, which is discharged into the nearby River. These industrial wastewaters are the main source of heavy metals since nearly all industrial by-products consist of some level of heavy metals [5].

Wastewater shows different degrees of environmental nuisance and contamination hazards due to its chemical and microbiological characteristics. Excessive nutrients (primarily, nitrogen and phosphorus) in wastewater, sludge, and excreta may contaminate surface waters and cause eutrophication, which affects the esthetics of water bodies (lakes, rivers), and results in odor and appearance problems, which was evident in the physiochemical evaluation of brewery effluents in Enugu State [6] and Edo State [7] both in Nigeria.

Previous research has shown that the release of untreated effluents has the potential to negatively impact aquatic organisms, by decreasing pH to acid level, increasing conductivity, temperature turbidity, and total solids in such an environment leading to a decrease in dissolved oxygen with microbial bloom from rich nutrients (nitrogroups, sulfur-groups, and phosphors) [8–12].

Heavy metals are also released from these effluents. Studies have shown that longterm exposure to low concentrations of some heavy metallic anions can result in the development of sub-chronic to chronic illnesses and diseases in a given population, usually between 1 in 1000 to 1 in 1,000,000 as institutionalized by the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [13, 14].

The forms in which metal pollutants exist in wastewater discharges determine their release into the aquatic ecosystem. Some metals become bio-available when soluble airborne solids are dissolved by weak acids such as carbonic acid. Their concentration became enhanced by the abundance of metals in road dust and tire residues [15].

The physicochemical properties and selected heavy metals of industrial effluents from consolidated Breweries in Benue State, Nigeria were studied. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the concentration levels, and ecological and health risks of industrial effluents discharged daily into the nearby River, a primary source of fishing activity and domestic purposes in the neighboring community. Information from the present study will be helpful to the relevant government agencies and policymakers in preparing preventive action to control the direct discharge of effluents from chemical industries, agro-based activities, and domestic waste to the rivers and the sea.

*Pollution Evaluation of Industrial Effluents from Consolidated Breweries: A Case Study… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105955*
