Spatial distribution of drinking water quality in Nkawie in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District

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Date
2014-07-20
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Abstract
The Nkawie area of the Atwima-Nwabiagya district of the Ashanti Region represents an urban–rural type of mixed settlement with a high prevalence of water borne epidemiological conditions. Access to good quality drinking water is known to be a major factor for such prevalence. Therefore this research sought to highlight the spatial characterization of water quality within Nkawie; using Geographical Information Systems. The spatial analysis of water quality was conducted using laboratory determined magnitudes of parameter values known to affect water quality, followed by Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and spatial interpolation techniques in GIS resulting in surface generation of water quality (to show its spatial distribution). Spatial interpolation was carried out using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) model to generate the water quality map over the study area. Samples from 9 public water sources in the study were collected and analysis was carried out including tests for pH, E. coli, Total Coliform, Faecal Coliforms and Salmonella. Drinking Water Quality Index (WQI) was developed using the measured parameter values. Results from the WQI shows that it’s only the Asuofia well water that is moderately good for drinking as all the sources show various levels of contamination. The study of spatial analysis and interpretations of water quality demonstrated that the applied GIS methodology is a useful tool in evaluating and describing the spatial distribution of water quality characteristics. The conclusions from this research revealed that more than half of the public drinking water sources were contaminated beyond guidelines recommended by WHO and Ghana Standard Authority. It also revealed compromised water quality, hygiene and sanitation challenges; which have resulted in the district recording high cases of water borne diseases especially diarrhoea even though it has 95% water coverage.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environment Resource Management, 2014
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