Biological and Physico-Chemical Quality of Ground Water around the Old Municipal Refuse Dump Site at Ahenema Kokoben

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2015-02-06
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The quality of ground water from the old municipal refuse dumping site at Ahenema Kokoben in the Ashanti region was determined by taking water samples from wells and boreholes within this area. A total of thirty samples were taken from these ground water sources. Parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO) and total dissolved solids (TDS) were analyzed on site, while phosphates, nitrates and sulphates in addition to heavy metals such as zinc, lead, iron and copper were analyzed in the laboratory using standard protocols. The samples were also analyzed for feacal coliform, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella contamination. The DO ranged from 2.17-3.54 mg/L and pH ranging from 2.17-3.54mg/L. Phosphate and sulphates were the highest nutrient concentrations recorded with mean values ranging between 1.27-1.45 mg/L and 1.17-1.74 mg/L respectively. Contamination with Lead was found to be the high in the study area with values ranging from 0.173-0.313 mg/L, these results were above the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) set standards for lead concentration in drinking water. Salmonella was not recorded in this study. However, contamination with feacal coliform and E. coli was recorded with a range of 3.29×104 -3.81×104 CFU/100ml and 0.94×102-2.03×102 CFU/100ml respectively. The leaching of lead into water bodies occurs during high temperatures; therefore the constant high temperatures within the study area could have been the reason for high levels of lead. Water samples from this study area were found to be unwholesome for drinking according to both the WHO and GSA standards for drinking water, due to the presence of feacal coliforms and E. coli and then also high concentrations of lead.  
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A Thesis submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Msc. Degree in Environmental Science,
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