Browsing by Author "Minja, Rwaichi"

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    Fluoride occurrence in domestic water supply sources in Tanzania: A Case of Meru District Arusha Region
    (2018) Mbabaye, Godfrey; Minja, Rwaichi; Mtalo, Felix; Legonda, Isaack; Mkongo, Godfrey
    Surface and ground water are the major sources of water supply in Meru district. Most of the people in Meru rural areas depend on surface water in rivers and ground water shallow and deep wells and springs for house hold activities. The presence of fluoride in high concentrations in drinking water or cooking water causes severe health problems to the people. Distribution of fluoride concentrations in Meru district domestic water sources was studied by referencing the location of water sources using Extrex 20 garmin hand held GPS instrument. Fluoride concentrations were measured using Metrohm Ag/AgCl reference electrode connected to a Metrohm potentiometer (826 pH/Ion Meter) in a laboratory. Fluoride concentrations were found to range between 0.76 and 1103 mg/L. Around 69% of 146 samples collected had fluoride concentrations above 1.5 mg/L which is the WHO recommended standard while 47% of the samples had fluoride concentrations exceeding 4.0 mg/L as recommended by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards. The results indicate that, residences in five wards of Meru district namely Kikatiti, King’ori, Leguruki, Maji ya Chai, and Ngarenanyuki are exposed to high levels of fluoride posing risk of dental and skeletal fluorosis. Generally, the study observed that most of the ground and surface water resources in Meru district are contaminated with high fluoride concentration and therefore waters from most sources in the areas (wards) need to be defluoridated to be potable.
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    Lemongrass and Cinnamon Essential Oils as Vitamin C Preservative and Flavour Enhencer in Jam
    (2014-06) Byarushengo, Denice; Minja, Rwaichi; Temu, Abraham K.
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    Production of Paper Pulp Using Sisal Fiber Waste from Sisal Spinning Processes
    (2022-05-20) Mbise, Ekael Ellyns; Mtweve, Bosco; Minja, Rwaichi
    Disposal of large volumes of textile waste is an escalating problem for textile industries. Sisal spinning industry is the one of the textile industries releasing large volumes of textile waste in the landfills. The rising costs, and reduction of available space together with increasing stringent environmental measures are making burying and land filling of textile waste, a declining option. This study therefore explores recycling options where the potential of using sisal fiber waste produced during sisal spinning processes as raw materials for the production of paper pulp was investigated. Sampling was done at 21stCentury Holdings Limited allocated at Chang’ombe industrial street Dar es Salaam mainly dealer of sisal yarns production. Materials were prepared and cut into small pieces of about ½ inches to reduce the fiber into unit lengths so as to achieve pulping required performance. Pulping process was achieved through Soda pulping techniques with two different effective alkali charges (EA-20% and EA-24%) for 240 minutes under maximum temperature 140 C, and liquor to fiber ratio 4:1by using Mathis Labomat dyeing Machine. The kappa number obtained was (25.5, 34.5) for material treated under EA 24% and EA 20% respectively, Percentage pulp yield were (47.1, 54.4) for EA 24% and EA20% pulp respectively. Freeness (630CFS, 555CSF) after refining at 4500rpm. Finally, the resulting pulp was used for hand sheet making and the sheets were tested for their mechanical properties; Grammage (61.1, 61.1) g/m2, Tensile index (9.9, 22.3) Nm/g, Tear index (13.3, 17.4) Nm2/g, burst index (1.7, 3.7 and 1.6) k.pa.m2/g and Elongation at break (2.02, 2.22) % for EA24% pulp, EA20% pulp respectively. The findings shows that sisal fiber wastes have a promising potential for paper pulp production compared to other non-wood raw material.