Groundwater Quality Assessment Using a Water Quality Index and GIS: A Case of Ushewokunze Settlement, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Publication date: Available online 21 February 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Felistas Muzenda, Mhosisi Masocha, Sherpherd. N. MisiAbstractA study was carried out to assess the quality of groundwater and its suitability for domestic use in Ushewokunze peri-urban Settlement, Harare, Zimbabwe. The study area is not yet serviced with water supply and sanitation. This leaves residents solely dependent on pit latrines for sanitation and on groundwater sources for potable water supply. Ushewokunze is divided into Phase 1; with residential stand sizes of 1 500m2 - 2000m2; Phase 2 where stand sizes are from 150m2 to 250m2 and Phase 3 where residential stands are of approximately 500m2 sizes. Seventeen hand-dug shallow wells and the only three existing boreholes in Ushewokunze were selected for sampling. Eighty groundwater samples were collected monthly from January to April 2017, and were analysed, by standards methods, for parameters which included turbidity, Electrical Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, chlorides, nitrates, phosphates and faecal coliforms. A water quality index (WQI) was determined. A one sample t-test was performed in SPSS software (v23) at 95% confidence interval, to determine the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purposes. This was done by comparing the mean values of the analysed groundwater parameters with WHO (2011) guidelines and SAZ 560:1997 standards. Spatial variability maps of the measured parameters were pre...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - Category: Science Source Type: research