KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI- GHANA COLLEGE OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL AND APPLIED BIOLOGY THE QUALITY OF WATER FROM HAND DUG WELLS IN THE AKIM ODA TOWNSHIP BY PHILIP VICTOR MINTAH JULY, 2011 KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI – GHANA COLLEGE OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL AND APPLIED BIOLOGY THE QUALITY OF WATER FROM HAND DUG WELLS IN THE AKIM ODA TOWNSHIP A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL AND APPLIED BIOLOGY, KNUST, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. By: PHILIP VICTOR MINTAH Date: July, 2011 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the Msc and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of other degree of the university , except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text. MINTAH PHILIP VICTOR (PG3115309) ............................ ................... (Student me and ID) (Signature) (Date) Certified by: Dr J. A. Larbi ......................................... .............................. (Supervisor‟s Name) (Signature) (Date) Dr P. K. Baidoo ....................................... ................................. (Head of Dept. Name) (Signature) (Date) DEDICATIONS This work is dedicated to my lovely wife, Sussana and children, Nhyira and Aseda. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I give thanks to the Almighty God for his countless blessing, protection, love, and favour upon my life for making it possible for me to complete this work. I wish to give special thanks to Dr. John Asiedu Larbi, my project supervisor for his patience, creativity and innovative ideas he rendered to me. My gratitude also goes to my loving mother, sisters and brother for their prayers, material support and encouragement. Table of Content Pages Declaration............................................................................................................... i Dedication............................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgement................................................................................................. iii Table of content............................................................................................... iv-viii List of tables...........................................................................................................ix List of figures........................................................................................................ x List of plates.......................................................................................................... xi Abstract.......................................................................................................... xii-xiii CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................1 1.1Background......................................................................................................1-2 1.2 Justification....................................................................................................... 3 1.3 General Objectives............................................................................................ 3 1.3.1 Specific objectives...................................................................................... 3-4 CHAPTER TWO 2.0 Literature Review............................................................................................. 5 2.1 Water................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.1 Sources of Water............................................................................................ 5 2.2 Wells.............................................................................................................. 5-7 2.3 Well Contamination ..........................................................................................7 2.4 Microbes associated with drinking water......................................................... 8 2.4.1 Coliform Bacteria........................................................................................... 8 2.4.1.1 Sources of Coliform..................................................................................8-9 2.4.1.2 Potential Health Effect........................................................................... 9-10 2.4.1.3 Standards of coliform in Drinking water.................................................. 10 2.4.2 E.coli....................................................................................................... 10-11 2.4.3 Salmonella ....................................................................................................11 2.4.3.1 Sources of Salmonella................................................................................11 2.4.4 Giardia .........................................................................................................11 2.4.4.1Sources of Giardia......................................................................................12 2.5 Physiochemical properties of water.................................................................13 2.5.1 pH of Water ................................................................................................. 13 2.5.1.1 Standards of PH.........................................................................................14 2.5.1.2 Potential Health effect of pH.................................................................... 14 2.5.1.3 Treatment...................................................................................................14 2.5.2 Total Dissolved Solids................................................................................. 15 2.5.2.1 Sources of TDS..........................................................................................15 2.5.2.2 Potential health effect of TDS..............................................................15-16 2.5.3 Turbidity...................................................................................................... 16 2.5.3.1 Sources of Turbidity..................................................................................16 2.5.3.2 Potential Health Effect of Turbidity......................................................... 17 2.5.3.3Standards of Turbidity............................................................................... 17 2.5.4 Electrical Conductivity........................................................................... 17-18 2.5.4 Hardness of water........................................................................................ 18 2.5.5.1 Potential Health Effect of Hardness of water.......................................18-19 2.5.6 Nitrate in Water.............................................................................................19 2.5.6.1 Sources of Nitrate.................................................................................19-20 2.5.6.2 Potential Health Effect of Nitrate........................................................ 20-21 2.5.6.3 Standards of Nitrate...................................................................................21 2.5.7 Fluoride in water.......................................................................................... 21 2.5.7.1 Sources of Fluoride................................................................................... 22 2.5.7.2 Potential Health Effect of Fluoride........................................................... 22 2.5.7.3 Standards of Fluoride.................................................................................23 2.5.8 Sulphate in Water......................................................................................... 23 2.5.8.1 Sources of Sulphate................................................................................... 23 2.5.8.2 Potential Health of Sulphate..................................................................... 23 2.5.8.3 Standards of Sulphate............................................................................... 24 2.6 Treatment of Water.................................................................................... 24-25 CHAPTER THREE 3.0 Methodology................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Study area........................................................................................................ 26 3.2 Sampling site................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Sampling Collection........................................................................................ 28 3.4 Microbial laboratory Procedure................................................................. 28-29 3.4.1Total and faecal coliforms............................................................................ 29 3.4.2 E.coli.............................................................................................................29 3.5 Physiochemical laboratory analysis............................................................... 30 3.5.1 pH, determination....................................................................................... 30 3.5.2 Turbidity Determination...............................................................................30 3.5.3 Conductivity Determination..................................................................