Pulp and paper industry effluents entering water body is considered as the major sources of pollutants in the environment. In this study physicochemical characteristics of the effluent from Anmol product Ethiopia recycled paper Industry and the receiving upper Awash River water quality were investigated from January to March 2015. A total of five composite samples, two of which were from the raw and treated effluents and the remains from upper Awash River water were collected and analyzed. The raw effluent consists of 470-2499.3 mg/L five days Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5),2969-5848.6 mg/L Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), 298-501.3 mg/L Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 1032-2333.3 mg/L Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) and pH varied from 3.24-10.66. Aerobic treatment of raw effluent attribute to insignificant reduction in TSS (112-532 mg/L), BOD5 (405-1314.6 mg/L) and COD (2304-3729 mg/L). However, TSS, TDS, total Nitrogen, total Phosphorus, Potassium, Chlorides and Sulphates were found higher after treatment. Copper, Iron and Zinc were found in small quantity in raw effluent and were not removed after treatment. The investigation across the river indicated the levels of some parameters decreased downstream of the River. However, most parameters such as TSS, TDS, BOD5, COD and total nitrogen were much higher than the maximum allowable limit prescribed by WHO even at downstream of the river. The dendrogram of the effluent quality parameters clearly indicate that this Industry does not meet the prescribed discharge limits and the River is highly polluted due to the discharge of effluents from ther Industry.
