Buamah, R., Petrusevski, B. and Schippers, J.C. (2008). Presence of arsenic, iron and manganese in groundwater within the gold-belt zone of Ghana. Journal of water supply: research and technology-AQUA ; vol. 57, no. 7 ; p. 519-529. doi:10.2166/aqua.2008.149
Abstract
About 45% of the total drinking water in Ghana is produced from groundwater. The presence of arsenic and manganese in groundwater above the recommended WHO drinking- water guidelines pose a threat to consumers’ health. To provide additional information on groundwater quality in the gold-belt zone of Ghana, nearly 290 well water samples from three regions namely Ashanti, Western and Brong-Ahafo, were analyzed for the presence of arsenic, iron and manganese. It was found that 5-12% of sampled wells had arsenic levels exceeding the 10 mg l-1-WHO provisional guideline value. Communities within the studied area with high arsenic presence in their groundwater are located within the Birimian and Tarkwaian geological formations. Most of these arsenic contaminated wells (70%) have been in use for more than 15 years. Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti and Western regions had 5%, 25% and 50% of wells, respectively with iron levels above 0.3 mg l-1, the drinking-water guideline value commonly accepted for iron. Thirteen percent of wells in Ashanti and 29% in the Western region exceeded 0.4 mg l-1-the WHO health-based guideline value for manganese.
Based on UNESCO-IHE PhD research study on “Adsorptive removal of arsenic, iron and manganses from ground water“
Contact: R. Buamah, Water Resources and Environmental Sanitation, Department of Civil Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana & UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands, r.buamah@unesco-ihe.org
