Abstract:
In many rural areas in developing countries including Ethiopia access to clean drinking water is a primary concern of people. The study area relay on well water as a source of water for their livelihood. Therefore, this study aims to assess the quality of water based on physicochemical and bacteriological parameters and determine the suitability of hand dug wells of Dandi district area for drinking purpose. The study was conducted in Dandi district in West Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia. The bacterial load of the water samples was determined using standard microbiological methods. Physicochemical properties including Total dissolved solids (TDS) , Turbidity (NTU), Ammonia , total hardness , calcium , magnesium , iron , chloride, phosphate, sulphate, sodium and potassium concentrations were determined in the Ambo University biology and chemistry laboratories. The values obtained were compared with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water.The analysis of drinking water quality parameters were done using a total of 20 water samples collected from hand-dug well. The obtained result indicated that pH, Turbidity, Total dissolved solids , Electrical conductivity, sodium, iron concentration of the water samples ranged from 6.9-7.35 0.39 to 15.53NTU, 187.67 to 630.67mn/L, 277.67 to 906.33 µS/cm, 17.43 to 70.83 mg/L, 0.083 to .0475 mg/L respectively. In addition, the mean concentration of Total Hardness, calcium, magnesium and chloride were 216.33 to 467 mg/L, 59.7 to 143.4 mg/L, 27. to 11.5 mg/L, 35.03 to 200.21 mg/L respectively. The Sulphate, phosphate, potassium, Ammonia concentration were found to be 9.43 to 435.85 mg/L, 10.8 to 56.01 mg/L, 2.7 to 11.5 mg/L, 0.15 to 0.56 mg/L respectively. 75% of the water sample tested positive for faecal coliforms indicating that they had disease burden. This study revealed that, the majority of the tested parameters were within the permissible range of WHO. However, Mg, turbidity, Fe, S of the water samples were found to be above the tolerable limits set by the WHO. Besides, this study has shown that there is also bacterial contamination of well water by pathogenic organisms. The present study has revealed that some of the bacteriological data and physico-chemical parameters had values beyond the maximum tolerable limits recommended by WHO. Thus, it calls for appropriate intervention, including awareness development work and improving the existing infrastructure
