Investigation into the suitability of well water near cassava processing areas for drinking and irrigation purposes

Water used for domestic and irrigation purposes are sometime contaminated by organic and inorganic pollutants from cassava processing centres. Accordingly, groundwater from ten randomly wells were analyzed for pH, turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), CN−, Na+, K+, Ca++, Mg++ and NO3− ion concentrations and the microbial content to determine the suitability of these waters for drinking and/or irrigation purposes. The qualitative analysis reveals that all the ten sites recorded permissible of limits for TDS (<500 mg/l for drinking purposes). Also, all the sites had permissible limits for EC values (<750 dSm−1 recommended for irrigation water) and thus can be used for irrigation with adequate attention on irrigation duration and frequency, drainage and crop species. However, none of the groundwater samples satisfy the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 0.1 mg/l cyanide value and zero coliform bacterial count for drinking water quality and are therefore not recommended for drinking.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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