Assessment of Nutrients and Heavy Metals in the Groundwater and Surface Water in the Zeber Watershed: The Case of the Bahir - Dar City Waste Disposal Site

Abstract

AbstractSurface water and groundwater have been experiencing increasing risks of contamination in recent years because of the poor management of the immense amounts of waste created by different human activities. Inappropriate dump sites have served for many years as marginal disposal sites for a wide range of wastes, including solid waste, fresh sewage and hazardous waste, in developing nations such as Ethiopia. Physical, anthropogenic and organic procedures continuously interact to degrade the waste. One of the results of these practices is artificially contaminated leachate, which is potentially hazardous waste from disposal sites. If not managed appropriately, dumping sites can contaminate groundwater (through leachates) and surface water (through contaminant transport by flooding and groundwater movement). Along these lines, this study focuses on the spatial and temporal variations in the ground and surface water quality caused by the waste disposal site of Bahir Dar city within the Zeber watershed during the dry and wet seasons. Water testing was performed on 5 samples of surface water and 6 samples of groundwater in each month from the 30th of March (dry season) to the 20th of August (wet season). Water quality parameters, for example, total coliforms, \({\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - }\), \({\text{PO}}_{4}^{3 - }\), Cr, Mn, and Pb concentrations were examined in both ground and surface water. It was discovered that the \({\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - }\), Mn and Pb contents were within established limits for both ground and surface water, while the remaining parameters varied depending upon the sampling period. The water quality study results show that spatial and temporal variations have strong impacts on the changes in microbial, heavy metal and nutrient parameters throughout the watershed. KeywordsGroundwaterSeasonal variationWaste disposal siteSurface water