Drinking Water Quality Challenges in Nakuru County, Kenya

Authors

  • Vincent O. Madadi  Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, College of Biological and Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Mary W. Ngotho  Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, College of Biological and Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Florence A. Masese  Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, College of Biological and Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

Keywords:

Nakuru County, surface and groundwater quality, Heavy metals & Biological contamination.

Abstract

Adequate quantity of safe drinking water is necessary for human health and development. However increasing population coupled with high demand of water for agriculture, households and industrial uses and power generation have led to declining quantity and quality of the life essential commodity. Nakuru is the fourth largest town in Kenya, located 160 kilometres northwest of Nairobi, and is one of the Kenyan towns that are seriously impacted by limited availability of water, leading to frequent water rationing. This study investigated the quality of the main drinking water sources of Nakuru town namely tap water, boreholes and Njoro River. We analysed physico-chemical parameters including pH, TDS, TSS and Electrical conductivity; heavy metals such as Pb, Mn, Cd, Cr and microbiological contaminants E. coli and total coliforms. We collected water samples from eight different sources and analysed them following standard methods. The results showed variation in the concentrations of different parameters across the sources. The mean Electrical conductivity varied from 169.2 -2,169.5 ?S/cm, TDS from 84.66-1,082.5 mg/l, pH from 7.80-8.55, TSS from 27.5-93.5 mg/l, E. Coli from 0-233 CFU/ml and Total coliforms from 1-343 CFU/ml. Lead is the only heavy metal that was detected in significant amounts in water with concentration varying from bdl-0.057 mg/l. Except for pH and TSS, most of the parameters were above the WHO maximum guidelines for drinking water and the Kenya National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) guidelines. The results suggest that apart from the tap water, the ground and surface water of Nakuru was not safe for direct human consumption and therefore proper pre-treatment must be undertaken

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

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Published

2017-10-31

Issue

Volume 3, Issue 6, September-October-2017

Section

Research Articles

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How to Cite

[1]
Vincent O. Madadi, Mary W. Ngotho, Florence A. Masese, " Drinking Water Quality Challenges in Nakuru County, Kenya, International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology(IJSRSET), Print ISSN : 2395-1990, Online ISSN : 2394-4099, Volume 3, Issue 6, pp.05-11, September-October-2017.