Determination of hydrocarbon contamination of underground water around fuel filling stations in selected residential areas in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

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OCTOBER, 2015
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Underground water is vulnerable to contamination from numerous anthropogenic activities. These human activities include improper installation of septic tanks, improper disposal of wastes, leaking underground storage tanks (LUST), and accidental spill of chemicals. Petroleum hydrocarbons are released into underground water due to leakages in fuel storage facilities from the numerous fuel filling stations. Once underground water is contaminated, it is very difficult, time consuming and expensive to clean up. In this study, the physico-chemical parameters - temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Salinity and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) as well as the distance from fuel storage tanks to underground water sources were measured to ascertain the level of contamination by hydrocarbons in the underground water studied. The mean temperature ranged from 28.69°C at Oforikrom to a high value of 31.87°C at Kentinkrono. The lowest pH recorded was 4.84 at Denyame and the highest of 7.03 at Ahinsan. The mean electrical conductivity results ranged from a low value of 24.5 µs/ cm at Ayeduase and a high value of 519.5 µs/cm at Oforikrom. TDS were highest at Oforikrom (260 mg/l) and lowest at Ayeduase (10 mg/l). None of these samples recorded TDS values exceeding the permissible limit of 1000 mg/l. The highest mean salinity value recorded was 0.25 ppm at Oforikrom and the lowest of 0.01 ppm at Ayeduase. The highest mean concentration of TPH was 9.48 mg/l recorded at Oforikrom and three sampling points (Abrepo, Kentinkrono and New Suame) recorded zero (0) concentration of TPH. Three sampling points (Oforikrom, Asafo YF and Kwadaso Nsuom) recorded TPH concentrations above the permissible limit. The shortest distance between fuel storage tank and underground water source recorded was 25 m at Ahinsan and the longest distance of 535 m at Aboabo which recorded average TPH concentrations of 3.71 mg/l and 1.12 mg/l respectively. This indicates that, as the distance between the underground storage tanks (UST) and an underground water source increases, there was reduction in the TPH concentration of the water sampled. This shows that the locations of UST had an influence on the contamination of underground water close to fuel filling stations within the Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements Master of Science degree in Environmental Science.
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