Research article

Impact of soil chemical parameters on ground water quality in some parts of Malawi

¹Tadala Sendezera, ¹Boyson H. Z Moyo and ^*2Peter P. Mumba

¹Department of Natural Resources Management, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi

²Department of Basic Sciences, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi

*Corresponding Author E-mail: mumbap01@yahoo.com

Accepted 15 September 2014

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the water quality of ground water in bore hole, protected well and unprotected well 1 and 2 in some parts of the central region of Malawi in the dry and rainy seasons in relation to wide spread fluorosis in the study area. The results showed that while hardness, alkalinity and sulphate were relatively high in the dry season fluoride was higher in the rainy season. In the dry season, for hardness, significant differences were observed between bore hole and the two unprotected wells (p<0.05). For sulphate differences were observed between the protected well and the other three sampling places. However, there was no significant difference in the concentration of fluoride at all four sampling places. In the rainy season, significant differences were only observed for sulphate in the sampling places, being highest (p<0.05) in the protected well. If ailments are to be avoided, continuous monitoring of these ground water sources need to be taken. This is especially true for fluoride since dental fluorosis is common in the study area.

Keywords: Ground water, pollution, chemical analysis, consumer, health risks