Groundwater quality in a low income community: case study of Kotei, Kumasi

The quality of groundwater, is low in low income peri–urban communities where onsite sanitation facilities and ground water resources are barely apart. This paper assesses the influence on-site sanitation facilities have on groundwater quality by determining the level and source of contamination and identifying the associated pathways to contamination at various levels of storage. Groundwater samples from randomly selected sources with different storage levels were analysed for physio-chemical parameters, microbial contamination levels and the presence of heavy metals. The risk to contamination of selected sources was conducted using a questionnaire developed by Howard et al. The results indicate that, groundwater quality deteriorates from source to storage with counts of microbes increasing. However, as microbial contamination level increases, risk to contamination levels decreases for primary and secondary storage. This suggests that, contamination at primary and secondary storage levels is not directly from on-site sanitation systems but from other identified factors.