Anomalies in industrial wastewater quality data in Kuwait

Data was collected on the quality and quantity of wastewater discharged from different petroleum and nonpetroleum industrial sources in Kuwait over a period of one year. A field survey included 75 factories distributed in three industrial areas (Sabhan, Kuwait City, and Shuaiba). Among the industries contacted only 41 agreed to participate in field measurements and wastewater sampling campaign. The questionnaire feedback obtained indicated that the activities of these industries can be categorized into 20 categories including 4 and 37 petroleum and nonpetroleum industries, respectively. The mean quality of wastewater generated in Sabhan industrial area were found to be higher than those of Kuwait City and Shuaiba areas. The inorganic results indicated that high values of total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfide, free chlorine, and fluoride were observed in the wastewater of petroleum factories of Shuaiba, while high values of total phosphate, ammonia, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total nitrogen, and floatables were observed in the wastewater of nonpetroleum factories of Kuwait City. Additionally, organic results indicated that high values of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), oil and grease, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) were observed in the wastewater of petroleum factories of Shuaiba area. GIS maps were generated for 25 wastewater parameters for the participating 41 factories using ArcView GIS software.