Well Water Quality of the Oti Community in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana
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Date
2015-03-03
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Abstract
The quality of water from selected hand dug wells within the Oti community, a peri urban community in the Kumasi metropolis has been studied. Monthly water samples were collected from 24 hand dug wells, and analyzed for physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters using standard methods. Results of the study show that levels of TDS, electrical conductivity, salinity, chloride, phosphate and nitrate were within the recommended World Health Organization and Ghana Water Company recommended guideline limits for drinking water. However, the water samples were mostly acidic, recording pH of 5.41-6.54. The total hardness of the water ranged from 36.13-121 mg/l, making most of them mostly soft to moderately hard. Iron concentrations were relatively high compared with WHO and GWC standards. Total coliforms, faecal coliforms and E. coli counts per 100 ml of sample ranged: 3.4×104-2.35×106, 2.3×104-9.20×105 and 3×104-4×104, respectively. The presence of these microbiological indicators in the samples indicates contamination from human and animal sources, and may pose a health risk to consumers of water from the wells.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science Degree In
Environmental Science, 2014