Impact of urbanization on spring water quality of Ibanda district

Abstract

Water resource contamination and quality is still a major concern in several regions of developing countries, especially in the Uganda in which polluted waters pose serious risks to human health and the environment. The study assessed the impact of urbanization on spring water quality of Ibanda. The study was designed to determine the physiochemical parameters of urban and rural spring water, the bacteriological parameters of urban and rural spring water and assessing the impact of land use type on spring water quality. The study was conducted in two seasons of the year: the wet and dry season, to examine the physiochemical and bacteriological parameters of urban and rural spring water in the two seasons. The study covered 11 rural and 6 urban gravity flow water spring sources and four sampling intervals were done on each rural and urban spring during the wet season and dry season. The physicochemical parameters analyzed, included pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, total suspended solids (TSS), alkalinity, total hardness, phosphorus, nitrate, turbidity, color using standards methods for water analysis. SPSS was used to present and analyse the data obtained during the two seasons. Results indicate that there was seasonal difference in the physicochemical and bacteriological composition of spring water throughout the year. The counts for feacal coliforms from all springs was higher than the standard in all seasons. However, the counts were higher during the wet season in rural springs. Among the physicochemical results, pH was low (acidic), nitrites higher in both rural and urban springs and higher values of turbidity in a wet season according to the WHO guidelines. The study will be useful in projecting the strategies required for the appropriate management measures to spring water quality issues in the study area and other places.