Literature Review On Groundwater Quality

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The exploitation of groundwater for man use started since ancient times. At first people did not understand nature of groundwater occurrence properly, however, different methods of groundwater exploitation have been developed. Groundwater plays an important role in national development, hence, its management is of great importance. The demand for groundwater is increasing as the days go by due to a number of factors such as the relatively low cost of development, high population growth rate, high growth rate of industries, availability of groundwater at a needed place, relatively good natural quality etc. In many developing countries many people dependent on groundwater for drinking, domestic

The concept of ground water quality seems to be clear, but the way of how to study and evaluate it still remains tricky (Chenini I and Khemiri S., 2009). For example, the concept is dependent on the intended use of the water as different uses require different criteria for assessing the quality. However, according to Babiker et al. (2007), the definition of water quality is not objective, but is socially defined depending on the desired use of water. The assessment and monitoring of groundwater quality are two of the most important factors that need to be considered in evaluation of the sustainable development of a given region (Cordoba et al., 2010). Water quality is defined based on a set of physical, chemical and bacteriological variables that are closely related to the water’s intended use. For each variables, acceptable values are defined. If the water variables meet the pre-established standards for a given use then it is considered suitable for that use otherwise it must be treated before use (Cordoba et al., (2010). Groundwater quality issues may be global, national or regional, it may affect the whole aquifer, one or more aquifers, or be restricted to a particular locality of a contaminant

(1982), observed that the soil particles and rock materials in unconsolidated deposits are able to reduce pathogen numbers to acceptable levels as the contaminated water flows through them. Therefore bacterial contamination occurs when the water table is so shallow or the contaminants get direct contact with the groundwater through the open well. This means that bacteriological contamination of groundwater in deep well are as due to direct and localized factors such as poor sanitation around the well, discharge of industrial and domestic waste etc. (WHO 1996). A landfill is particular piece of land used for the deposit of wastes materials. However, these waste materials in the landfill are potential sources of groundwater pollution (Everett, 1980; Foster et al., 1987). Therefore, proper landfills are planned, located, designed and constructed according to engineering specifications to avoid or reduced the negative impact on the environment and groundwater