Assessment of Physico-chemical Quality of Groundwater Sources in Ga East Municipality of Ghana

Abstract

<p>Safe drinking water is essential to the protection of public health and well being of citizenry. The study investigated physico-chemical water quality parameters that could contribute to consumers’ complain from communities benefiting from small town water supply schemes in Ga East Municipality of Ghana. Three samples were collected from each borehole, duplicate physico-chemical analysis was conducted and the result was compared to World Health Organisation guidelines for drinking water. The parameters analysed were based on their ability to impart colour to groundwater, change taste and form scales on storage and pipe fittings. The result showed that, the pH (5.2±0.5, 5.3±0.4 and 5.1±0.2) of the three boreholes were below WHO recommended levels which made the water acidic and aggressive. The study reviewed that the borehole water were moderately hard (66.0±3.6, 91.3±5.1 and 73.7±3.5 mg CaCO₃/L). These two parameters can cause rusting and scale formation in pipe fittings which could lead to consumer complains. Other parameters such as (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^-, and SO₄^2- mg/l) were within acceptable limits. Colour imparting ions like iron (0.1±0.0, 0.1±0.0 and 0.1±0.0 mg/l) and manganese (0.02-0.03 mg/l) were within WHO guidelines, were considered safe and had no major health implications on consumers. It was therefore recommended that liming should be considered to bring the pH level to an acceptable limit.</p

Correlation Analysis of Groundwater Colouration from Mountainous Areas, Ghana

“…The average colour values of the water samples from Akropong, Mampong, Larteh and Adukrom were all above the recommended limit of 15 TUC by the WHO and GUWL value of 5 TUC. No specific health effect is known to be attributable to water colouration; it is oftentimes associated with customer complaints and causes aesthetic problems (Amfo-Otu et al 2012;El-Naggar 2010). In this case it is a major problem for groundwater users due to high colour levels which do not make this water aesthetically appealing for consumption and washing.…”

“…They argue that the situation affects students in some communities due to the fact that this is the only available source of water to meet their daily water demand. Even though Fe and Mn have no known specific health effect, they influence the colour of water, creating aesthetic and taste problems for consumers, as well as depositing black stains in distribution lines (Amfo-Otu et al, 2012;El-Naggar, 2010;Casey, 2009). The use of a correlation coefficient in the groundwater pollution research plays an important role in assessing how the parameters relate to each other (Daraigan et al, 2011).…”