Ground Water Quality Assessment of the Rural Administrative, Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

The physico-chemical composition of groundwater from handdug wells were assessed in rural administrative of Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia. A total of 22 hand-dug well water samples were collected from the well fields. All the samples were analysed for five physicochemical parameters (conductivity, total dissolved solid, total hardness, pH and turbidity) and primary cations and anions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ and Cl-) using appropriate procedures and outcome of the analysis were counterchecked with the national and international standards. The ground water physicchemical analysis where undertaken in Central laboratory of Haramaya University and result of the selected sample shows that 95.65% for total hardness and 78.26% for turbidity which indicates higher than ES261:2001 and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended values, respectively. Total dissolved solid and electrical conductivity of all the samples were below the WHO and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health based guideline values for drinking water, respectively. 95.65% of the pH values of the samples were within the ES261:2001 permissible pH limits (6.5-8.5). Entirely the samples encompass concentration of sodium (7.31 mg/L-74.94mg/L), potassium (0.55 mg/L-3.33 mg/L) and calcium (2.58 mg/L-19.88mg/L) which indicates lower than the WHO maximum admissible limit. The result indicates less pollution and good drinking water treatment practices in the areas, which is safe for human consumption.