Groundwater is generally considered a “safe source” of drinking water because it is abstracted with low microbial load with little need for treatment before drinking. However, groundwater resources are commonly vulnerable to pollution, which may degrade their quality. An assessment of microbial and physicochemical qualities of borehole water in the rural environs of Mahikeng town, South Africa, was carried out. The study aimed at determining levels of physicochemical (temperature, pH, turbidity and nitrate) and bacteriological (both faecal and total coliform bacteria) contaminants in drinking water using standard microbiology methods. Furthermore, identities of isolates were determined using the API 20E assay. Results were compared with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Department of Water Affairs (DWAF-SA) water quality drinking standards. All analyses for physicochemical parameters were within acceptable limits except for turbidity while microbial loads during spring were higher than the WHO and DWAF thresholds. The detection of Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Klebsiella species in borehole water that was intended for human consumption suggests that water from these sources may pose severe health risks to consumers and is unsuitable for direct human consumption without treatment. The study recommends mobilisation of onsite treatment interventions to protect the households from further possible consequences of using the water.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Safe drinking water, good sanitation and hygiene are important for good health, human survival and development. However, human activities have affected water quality in many river catchments worldwide. Hellar-Kihampa et al. (2013) concluded that the Pangani River, Tanzania, had the worst water quality in the Moshi, Arusha and Kilimanjaro region, with the highest levels of Na + , K + , Mg 2+ , HCO 3 − and F − , the presence of these contaminants being as a result of human activities. Industrial water pollution has also been reported in many countries in Africa such as Lesotho (Pullanikkatil and Urama 2011) and Ghana (Attua et al. 2014). Changes in water quality are usually associated with changes in land use (Arnold and Gibbons 1996). Characterising changes in land use, coupled with increased population growth, has revealed the vulnerability of water quality in various catchments. The clearing of natural vegetation and the transformation of natural land use into urban developments are known to increase runoff and sediment loads, which also facilitates the transfer of pollutants from land to waterbodies (Arnold and Gibbons 1996). A positive correlation between population density and deterioration in water quality was found along the Bagmati River, Nepal (Bhatt et al. 2014). Therefore, combined pressures of human population growth, inadequate treatment of human wastes and ineffectively managed and treated industrial and agricultural wastes make it imperative that continuous monitoring of water quality is implemented for the provision of clean and safe water for human consumption and optimal environmental integrity. Africa's water resources are underutilised and pollution of both surface and groundwater resources has been increasing, leading to serious health risks to both humans and the ecosystem (UNECA u.d.). Pollution has caused the growth of water hyacinth which has affected, for example, Lake Victoria, the Nile River, and Lake Chivero in Zimbabwe. Malawi's river catchments, in spite of being important for its population, have been deteriorating in terms of river channel integrity, ecosystem health and water quality due to human activities. The Likangala River catchment, southern Malawi, which includes forest reserves, is affected by changes in land use caused by the increasing population and breakdown in catchment management and conservation practices. Deforestation, agriculture and degrading activities such as waste disposal, river bank cultivation and river sand mining have affected the water quality of this river (Jamu et al. 2003; Chavula and Mulwafu 2007). Chidya et al. (2011) assessed the quality of water in the Likangala River and showed that it is affected by pollution from human activities. The present study updates and expands that study, focusing on water quality, and observes land use with the intent of identifying the major land-based activities that cause changes in water quality. Study area The Likangala River is the only river in Malawi that passes through a city (Zomba) and its catchment include...