Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Case study: Abala Town, Afar, Ethiopia

Abstract

Water is one of the most important of all natural resources known on the earth. The safety of drinking water is important for the health. The safety of drinking water is affected by various contaminants which included physical, chemical and microbiological. Such contaminants cause serious health problems. The objective of this research study is to assess the drinking water quality of Abala town, afar Region, Ethiopia. Temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, Total hardness have been determined along various water quality profiles. Water quality is assessing using water quality index by examining first the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water by taking sample from the case study. The experimental methods and procedures were set for all water quality parameters analyzed. the result of the experiment also comparing with the Ethiopian water quality standard and WHO drinking water standard. The result shows that, except the total hardness, alkalinity, TDS, calcium, sulphate, arsenic, total coliform and E. coli all the parameters fulfill permissible limit for drinking water guidelines. The overall WQI for the water source, reservoir, and tap water was also determined to be 27, 29, and 25.5 points, respectively. Therefore, based on the WQI result, Abala ground water source drinking water quality is good for the source, reservoir, and tap water. The overall WQI for the Subala river water source (upstream, midstream and downstream) determined to be 80.08, 125.3, and 90.15 points, respectively. Therefore, based on the WQI result, Subala river drinking water quality is not recommended to use the water for drinking purpose. The chlorination, simple filtration and boiling treatment methods are recommended to improve the water quality of Abala water supply system.