Cassava processing releases abundant volumes of effluents that are indiscriminately discharged into the environment. This study examines the physicochemical components of cassava mill effluents (CME) from five cassava processing plants in Anambra State. Cassava mill effluents were collected from five processing plants in sterile bottles for analyses. The cassava mill effluents were subjected to physicochemical screening. The pH and TDS were measured using the pH and TDS meter. The BOD and COD content were determined by titration. The cyanide content, carbohydrate content, and heavy metal content were evaluated using the UV spectrophotometer. The results of the pH in all the samples were ranged from 4.95-5.19. CME 2 and 4 had highest pH values of 5.19 but CME 3 had the lowest pH value of 4.95. The value of total dissolved solids was lowest in CME 4 with the value of 28mg/l while CME 2 had the highest value of 30g/l. The BOD values of cassava effluents samples ranged from 29mg/l to 30.20mg/l and the corresponding COD values ranged 31.89mg/l to 33.9mg/l.The heavy metal evaluationindicated the presence of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr and Fe.The CME in all the samples has very low protein content that ranged between 2.70 and 2.95% but has high carbohydrate content (77.89mg/l - 78.85mg/l).This study revealed that cassava mill effluents are composed of physical and chemical constituents that may pose hazard to the receiving environments especially water bodies and farmlands.
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