The Quality of Water from Hand Dug Wells in the Akim Oda Township

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Date
2011
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Abstract
This study conducted in the Akim Oda Township which is the capital of the Birim Central Municipality sought to examine the suitability of water from hand dug wells in the township. The town was categorized into four suburbs, Old town, Community 6, New town and Quarters respectively. For every suburb, four sample sites were selected. Samples were taken over a period of four months from selected wells in quadruples for 4 months (i.e. October – January). Total coliform, faecal coliform and Escherichia coli were enumerated using the Most Probable Number technique. Some physiochemical parameters (pH, Conductivity, Turbidity, TDS, Total hardness and Fluoride, Nitrate and Sulphate anions) were also measured. The Well water from all the suburbs within the community did not meet the WHO zero faecal coliforms guidelines for drinking water except water from Well B3. Community 6 showed good quality water compared with all the suburbs. All the physiochemical parameters measured were very low and below the WHO permissible standards. Pollution sources such as closeness of well to KVIPs, septic systems, refuse dump, cemetery market etc which could have contribute to the microbial quality of the water did not have much influence on the water quality in this study. The quality of water from the hand-dug wells in the Akim Oda was found to be unsuitable for drinking in accordance with WHO standards but could be used for other domestic purposes.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science.
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