Effects of Illegal Mining Activities on Water Resources for Irrigation Purposes, Amansie West District, Ghana

Authors

  • Gabriel Quansah  Soil Chemistry and Mineralogy, Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Adams Sadick  Soil Chemistry and Mineralogy, Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Joseph Fenning  Soil Microbiology, Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Kwabena Nketia  Soil Genesis, Survey and Evaluation, Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Eric Asamoah  Soil Genesis, Survey and Evaluation, Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana

Keywords:

Water Quality, Irrigation, Rivers, Cations, Anions

Abstract

This paper assessed the suitability of water in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana for irrigation purposes and future planning of clean water resources. Twenty one (21) locations were selected on the major rivers and their tributaries in the district for sampling and the water samples taken at the depth of 15cm from the rivers. The samples were analyzed at Soil Research Institute's Laboratory for irrigation water quality parameters and compared with international water quality standard set for irrigation. All the irrigation water quality parameters, pH, temperature, ECw, TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, K and SAR were within the permissible limit and suitable for irrigation. Heavy metals (Fe, Pb and Cd) levels were all within allowable limits except Mn and Zn. However, further study to examine anions such as bicarbonate and carbonate for irrigation suitability is recommended.

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

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Published

2016-08-30

Issue

Volume 2, Issue 4, July-August-2016

Section

Research Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

[1]
Gabriel Quansah, Adams Sadick, Joseph Fenning, Kwabena Nketia, Eric Asamoah, " Effects of Illegal Mining Activities on Water Resources for Irrigation Purposes, Amansie West District, Ghana, International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology(IJSRSET), Print ISSN : 2395-1990, Online ISSN : 2394-4099, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp.664-668, July-August-2016.