Abstract:
This study investigated the possible groundwater quality threats from
excessive removal of vegetation due to urban growth in an open dumpsite
in Waterloo, Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana. 15 water samples were collected
from five (5) functional Hand-dug wells at increasing distance from the
dumpsite. The samples were assessed for some physico-chemical
parameters. Descriptive statistics were applied to investigate the quality of
groundwater samples from the Hand-dug wells. The groundwater was
slightly acidic. Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Coliform count were
high for the groundwater samples but total dissolved solids (TDS) were
within the permissible limits of Ghana Ministry of Water Resources
(GMWR) and WHO. Analysed parameters such as Ca2+, Na+, Cl- and Cu
conformed to the prescribed limits of GMWR and WHO for drinking water
while Pb was above the permissible limits of both. Fe2+ conformed to the
limit by GMWR but was above WHO. Cd was above the permissible limit of
GMWR but fell within that of WHO. Urban growth effects investigated
through the use of Landsat images of 1986, 2000, 2006 and 2011 with the
aid of ArcGIS 10.5 and ENVI 4.7 revealed that the study area, within these
years, drastically reduced in forest cover due to the increase in built-up
and has the tendency to cause contamination to groundwater in the area.
