Assessment of Drinking Water Quality in Urban Water Supply Systems: The Case of Hawassa City, Ethiopia

Abstract

In many developing countries, such as Ethiopia, water quality and the risk of water-related diseases are serious public health issues. The present study goal was to assess the drinking water quality from source to household tap water. To characterize and analyze drinking water quality parameters, 21 water samples were collected, of which 11 water samples were collected from sources (spring, borehole, and river), 4 from service reservoirs, and 6 from tap water. The mean values of the parameters were as follows: total dissolved solids (TDS) (142.79 mg/L), temperature (22.08°C), turbidity (9.49 NTU), electrical conductivity (EC) (250.14°μS/cm), pH (7.45 mg/L), fluoride (1.15 mg/L), nitrate (NO3−) (2.91 mg/L), total hardness (TH) (57.45 mg/L), calcium (41.7 6 mg/l), magnesium (10.74 mg/L), phosphate (0.44 mg/L), sulfate (3.99 mg/L), residual chlorine (1.53 mg/L), alkalinity (196.39 mg/L), and microbiological (total coliform and coliform/CFU) which were the main physiochemical parameters analyzed for the study. The findings revealed that the majority of the water quality parameters tested were within the WHO and National Drinking Water Quality Standards (NDWQS). However, some of the parameters such as temperature, turbidity, fluoride, and residual chlorine did not meet the standards. The mean temperatures at the source, reservoir, and tap water were 22.01°C 22.5°C,and 21.83°C, respectively. Turbidity levels in source samples ranged from 10 to 45 NTU, with a mean of 24.5 NTU, exceeding the WHO’s recommendation of less than 5 NTU. The Boko Alamura well had a high fluoride content (3.9 mg/l), which was above the WHO and NDWQS permissible limits. There was no free residual chlorine in the tap water sample. The results show that the Hawassa drinking water supply did not contain total or fecal coliform in any of the samples tested. The overall WQI for the water source, reservoir, and tap water was also determined to be 89, 71, and 69.7 points, respectively. Therefore, based on the WQI result, Hawassa drinking water quality is good for the source, reservoir, and tap water.

تقييم نوعية مياه الآبار للاستخدام المنزلي في ناحية فايدة، جنوب محافظة دهوك، إقليم كردستان – العراق

“…Is one of the best tools for monitoring surface and groundwater pollution and can be effectively employed in the execution of programs to improve water quality. Additionally, WQI can be used to gather data on water quality characteristics at various times and locations and convert this data into a single value specifying the relevant time and spatial unit 14 . We also applied the water quality index equation and compared the values with the table established by the World Health Organization for drinking water, to know the quality of water used by people in these areas, such as below 15 .…”

Evaluasi Kualitas Air Minum di Kampus Universitas Siliwangi Menggunakan Parameter Fisika, Kimia, dan Mikrobiologi

“…Sumber-sumber air khususnya sumber-sumber yang belum diperbaiki terkontaminasi tidak hanya karena faktor antropogenik tetapi juga faktor-faktor alam seperti banjir, iklim, pelapukan sumber air induk, material, topografi, dan lain-lain [1]. Kontaminasi tersebut sering kali dijumpai dan menyebabkan penurunan kualitas air yang berisiko menyebabkan penyakit yang disebut water-related diseases yang menjadi permasalahan serius pada Kesehatan Masyarakat [2]. Diare, kolera, disentri, tipus, dan polio adalah beberapa penyakit yang terkait dengan kualitas air minum yang buruk.…”

“…Perubahan rasa dan bau pada air menunjukkan adanya zat asing, seperti bahan organik, senyawa anorganik, atau sumber hayati. Kekeruhan mengacu pada kekaburan air yang disebabkan oleh kotoran, yang meningkatkan risiko organisme patogen terlindung oleh partikel kekeruhan sehingga lolos dari efek disinfektan [2]. Terdapat perbedaan hasil pada parameter TDS dan warna dimana air yang belum diproses memiliki nilai yang lebih tinggi yaitu 3 unit Pt co untuk warna dan 169,3 mg/L, sedangkan pada sampel air yang sudah mengalami serangkaian proses filtrasi dan UV nilai warna dan TDS secara berturut-turut adalah 2 Unit Pt Co dan 18,25 mg/L.…”