Hydrochemical Characterization and Suitability Assessment of Groundwater Quality in the Saboba and Chereponi Districts, Ghana

Larry Pax Chegbeleh,Bismark Awinbire Akurugu,Delali Kwasi Aklika

doi:10.3390/hydrology7030053

Larry Pax Chegbeleh, Bismark Awinbire Akurugu + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology7030053

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Abstract

Hydrochemical data of groundwater samples obtained from the mudstones, sandstones, and siltstones aquifer units that underlie the study area have been characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of groundwater for drinking, domestic, and agricultural purposes. The physico-chemical parameters were initially compared with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for potable water. They were further subjected to various hydrochemical techniques to assess the overall water quality for drinking purposes. Conventional methods of assessing irrigation water suitability were also adopted. The results indicate that, with the exception of HCO3− characterized as unsuitable for drinking water, most of the parameters are within the WHO permissible limits and are thus characterized as suitable for drinking water. A few samples however show slight deviation. The results also show that the abundance of major cations in groundwater is in the order: Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+. However, the abundance of the major anions is in the order: HCO3− > Cl− > SO42−. Na-HCO3 is thus inferred as the dominant water type in the area. Analyses of the overall Water Quality Index (WQI) and irrigation water assessment indices suggest that groundwater in the area is generally suitable for drinking, domestic, and irrigation purposes.

Highlights

The global economy, as reported by numerous studies [1,2,3], depends on water resources.According to the 2016 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR)dubbed “Water and Jobs”, as reported by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) [2], an estimated three out of four jobs (75%) that make up the global workforce are either heavily or moderately dependent on water
Discussions of the characterization of the hydrochemical parameters are based on the categorization of samples with respect to the existing geological units
The preliminary results reveal that, with the exception of HCO3 −, considerable number of the physico-chemical parameters fell within the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for potable water, whereas only few showed slight deviations

Summary

Introduction

The global economy, as reported by numerous studies [1,2,3], depends on water resources.According to the 2016 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR)dubbed “Water and Jobs”, as reported by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) [2], an estimated three out of four jobs (75%) that make up the global workforce are either heavily or moderately dependent on water. The global economy, as reported by numerous studies [1,2,3], depends on water resources. According to the 2016 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR). Dubbed “Water and Jobs”, as reported by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) [2], an estimated three out of four jobs (75%) that make up the global workforce are either heavily or moderately dependent on water. The UN report notes that, half of the world’s workers (1.5 billion people) are employed in eight water and natural resource-dependent industries. It is suggestive to say that the socio-economic development of any nation is tired to the availability of water resources. The portion of water resources used worldwide for drinking, domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes is freshwater. Information on global water budget as contained on a webpage of the National

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