Land-use impacts on the quality of groundwater in Bulawayo

Abstract

The impacts of land use from commercial, industrial and domestic activities in the second largest city (Bulawayo) in Zimbabwe on groundwater quality are investigated in this paper. Thirty-two boreholes that are located in the Matsheumhlope Wellfield, a basement aquifer that underlies the city of Bulawayo, were monitored during the period between August 2000 and August 2001. The results showed that the majority of the parameters (iron, manganese, copper, nitrate, fluoride, sulphate and cyanide) at most sampling stations are within the recommended and permissible limits specified in Zimbabwe drinking water standards guidelines (SAZS 560:1997). The water can therefore be used for drinking purposes. However, levels of hardness higher than the maximum allowable according to Standard Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) guidelines were encountered. Microbiological analysis indicates that 27% of the samples showed positive total coliform and 8% positive faecal coliform with their occurrences being randomly distributed spatially and temporally.

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