Assessment of Hand Dug Wells Water Quality at Atebubu in the Atebubu-Amantin District of Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana

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2012
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Access to good quality drinking water is a challenge to the people in Atebubu who have for years depended on water from hand dug wells as the main source of drinking water. Unfortunately, water from this source is not treated before consumption. This has led to high incidence of water borne infections in the area. This study examined sixty water samples from ten hand dug wells in the area for their quality for consumption. The results of the study indicated ranges for the various parameters as follows: pH, 5.8 – 9.8; turbidity, 1.4 – 9.9 NTU; conductivity, 27- 398 µS/cm; colour, 4.0 - 105Hz; calcium, 4.0 – 58.4 mg/L; magnesium, 0.4 – 37.9 mg/L, chloride, 20 - 100 mg/L; fluoride, 0.05 – 2.2 mg/L, nitrate, 0.2 – 4.5 mg/l; nitrite, 0 – 0.2 mg/L, sulphate, 0 - 12 mg/L; phosphate, 0.2 – 2.6 mg/L; ammonia, < 0 mg/L; TDS, 11.0 - 194 mg/L; total hardness, 28.0 - 146 mg/L; Total coliform, 4.3 x 102 – 9.1 x 105 MPN/100ml; Faecal coliform, 2.4 x 101 – 4.02 x 104 MPN/100mL; Escherichia coli, 9.0 x 101- 2.0 x 103 MPN/100mL; Salmonella, 3.0 x 100 – 1.12 x 102 MPN/100mL and Enterococci, 5.0 x 100 – 1.46 x 103 CFU/100mL. The concentrations of most of the physico - chemical parameters in the water samples from Atebubu were below the permissible limits of the WHO drinking water quality guidelines except colour. All the bacteriological parameters far exceeded WHO guideline values for drinking water indicating unsuitability.
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science In Environmental Science
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