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Effect of waste landfill site on surface and ground water drinking quality
Author(s) -
Amano Kofi Owusu Ansah,
DansoBoateng Eric,
Adom Ebenezer,
Kwame Nkansah Desmond,
Amoamah Ernest Sintim,
AppiahDanquah Emmanuel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/wej.12664
Subject(s) - environmental science , turbidity , water quality , pollution , environmental engineering , surface water , groundwater , municipal solid waste , heavy metals , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental chemistry , waste management , chemistry , geology , engineering , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology , oceanography
Drinking water quality of surface and underground water within 1.34 km from a waste landfill site in Kumasi, Ghana was investigated. Physico‐chemical properties and heavy metal concentrations were analysed to determine water quality and pollution indices. It was found that turbidity of 83% of hand dug wells, 50% of the streams and 33% of boreholes were higher than World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for drinking water. Water quality index (WQI) showed that 25% of the water sources are of excellent quality, while 50%, 15% and 5% are good quality, poor quality, very poor quality and unsuitable for drinking, respectively. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) indicated that the water sources were above the critical limit for drinking water (HPI > 100). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed 75.30% and 70.88% of the total variance for the physico‐chemical parameters and heavy metals, respectively. The findings concluded that cadmium concentrations in all the water sources were extremely higher (0.0122–0.1090 mg/L) than WHO limit (0.003 mg/L), rendering them unwholesome for consumption.