African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 8 (1), pp. 001-007, January, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Distribution of nitrate in the water resources of Pakistan

Muhammad Aslam Tahir* and Hifza Rasheed

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Islamabad, Pakistan

Accepted 08 September, 2019

Abstract

Water quality monitoring activities have recognized the nitrate contamination in the drinking water sources as one of the major quality issue of Pakistan. Adopting a uniform sampling design, 747 samples were collected from a wide range of irrigated or non-irrigated regions having distribution of samples in sixteen cities as Lahore (79), Kasur (46), Faisalabad (30), Khushab (50), Chakwal (51), Mianwali (30), Jhelum (53), Bahawalpur (60), Karachi (60), Mirpur Khas (55), Peshawar (38), Risalpur (35), Quetta (81), Ziarat (21), Loralai (21), Mastung (37). The results showed that 19% of the total samples have nitrate concentration beyond the permissible safe limit of 10 mg/L falling in the concentration range of 11-160 mg/L of nitrate. The highest percentage contamination (23%) is found in water samples collected from both the Balochistan and Punjab provinces. Comparatively higher nitrate levels of <70 % in the groundwater sources like hand pumps and wells support the possibilities of increased contamination in the areas cultivated using heavy doses of fertilizers. Findings of the study provide support for further epidemiological investigations and potential strategy for mitigating the issue in the affected regions.

Key words: Nitrate-N, groundwater contamination, hand pumps, methemoglobinemia, Pollution, nutrients, fertilizer, agriculture.

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 8 (1), pp. 001-008, January, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Water supply, sanitation and health risks in Yaounde, Cameroon

KUITCHA Dorice¹, KAMGANG KABEYENE Beyala Véronique², SIGHA NKAMJOU luc¹, LIENOU Gaston³ and EKODECK Georges Emmanuel³

¹Hydrological Research Center (HRC) Institute of Geological and Mining Research (IRGM), P. O. Box 4110 Nlongkak-Yaounde (Cameroon).

²Laboratory of Geology, Department of Biological Sciences, Higher Teacher training school, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 47, Yaounde (Cameroon).

³Laboratory of Geology of the Engineer and Alterology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaounde I (Cameroon).

Accepted 14 September, 2019

Abstract

Population growth and rapid urbanization in Cameroon have led to major demographic changes in the urban centres, potentially resulting in serious environmental problems in the most populated cities such as Yaounde. In order to better understand the impacts on the hygiene conditions in certain quarters of this political capital, we carried out in March 2007, an investigation on the difficulties of water supply, sanitation and health problems. The investigation involved 1397 households distributed among 7 quarters with informal settlements. 17% of households only had a private connection to national company of drinking water distribution (CAMWATER) because of the lack of infrastructure and the high cost of the connection. The households which are unable to afford the cost of getting connected to CAMWATER network, exploit water from CAMWATER public paying fountain (56% of households), wells (17% of households), springs (4% of households), bore-holes (0.07% of household) and rivers (0.001% of household) to satisfy their needs. The majority of these water points (wells, springs and rivers) could be polluted, because of the informal nature of settlements which leads to proximity of habitats to latrines and to points of discharge of waste (solid and liquids). The health problems issuing probably from these potential polluted water points which at times occur as stagnant ponds around the dwellings is shown by the population of the zone of study in particular cases of malaria (100% of households), diarrhoea (24% of household), dysentery (24% of household), typhoid (0.07% of household), skin disease (0.07% of households). These results highlight the problems to which the authorities in charge of the environment and health must first bring a solution in a context to fight against poverty in Cameroon.

Key words: Environment, cleansing, drinking water, peri-urban zone, Yaounde.

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 7 (7), pp. 001-006, July, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Biomonitoring of some heavy metal contaminations from a steel plant by above ground plants tissue

M. Ataabadi, M. Hoodaji* and P. Najafi

Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan Branch, Isfahan, Iran.

Accepted 21 March, 2019

Abstract

Soil and plants growing in the vicinity of industrial areas display increased concentrations of heavy metals and give an indication of the environmental quality. The contamination source for aluminum, iron, nickel and lead in the Botanical garden of Mobarakeh Steel Company was recognized by analyzing the leaves and topsoil of two evergreen species: Quercus brantii and Ligustrum vulgare. Availability of the studied elements for plants was investigated by measuring their total and extractable concentration inthe soils. For ensuring air borne source of these metals, plant tissues were washed with distilled water. Plant available heavy metals of the soils were few in comparison with the total values which were related to the high pH value and the CaCO₃ percentage in the soils around each plant. On the other hand, significant differences were obtained between the washed and unwashed leaves in both species indicating metal contaminations from the atmosphere. Significant differences were detected between the contaminated and background site samples in both plants for Al, Fe and Ni. In addition, the leaves of L. vulgare accumulated more elements partially than Quercus brantii. Difference in the accumulation potentials of the plants were related to the diversity of the physical and chemical properties of the  leaves and the type of elements. The enrichment ratio of plants (C_contaminated/C_background) was calculated and it indicated that, the Fe in both plants was moderately enhanced by anthropogenic activities.

Key words: Industrial contamination, Quercus brantii, Ligustrum vulgare, enrichment factor.

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 7 (6), pp. 001-007, June, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Yield responses of forage sorghums to salinity and irrigation frequency

Siti Aishah¹, H. A. R. Saberi¹*, R. A. Halim¹ and A. R. Zaharah²

¹Department of Crop Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Land Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 18 November, 2018

Abstract

Water stress restricts crop yield in both the arid and semi-arid zones of the world. In particular, water stress is associated with low availability of water, as well as osmotic effects associated with salinity. The response of forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] varieties to salinity and irrigation frequency were studied from December 2007 to December 2008. Speedfeed and KFS4 were grown under salinity levels of 0, 5, 10 and 15 dS m^-1 and irrigated when the leaf water potential reached -1.0 (control), -1.5 and -2.0 MPa. The irrigation frequency was found to affect growth and yield of the forage sorghums. When irrigation was delayed in leaf water potential of -1.0 to -2.0 MPa, the yield and yield components were found to decrease. The maximum dry forage yields were 45.1, 38.9 and 38.5 g plant^-1 for frequent, intermediate and infrequent irrigation regimes, respectively. Increased salinity significantly reduced forage dry yield from 44.09 g plant^-1 in the control to 32.76 g plant^-1 at salinity of 15 dS m^-1. For every one unit increase in salinity, the forage yield decreased by 5.2 units and for every one unit increase in water stress (irrigation frequency), the forage yield decreased by 3.6 units. The variety Speedfeed had higher total dry mass than KFS4 under well-watered conditions but KFS4 performed better than Speedfeed under water stress. For both varieties, infrequent watering reduced dry matter and biomass accumulation, but increased water use efficiency (WUEs) (6.88).

Key words: Salinity, irrigation frequency, dry matter, water use efficiency (WUEs), forage sorghum.

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 7 (4), pp. 001-007, April, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Correlation between total water absorption and wet compressive strength of compressed stabilised peat bricks

Sadek Deboucha* and Roslan Hashim

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Accepted 21 November, 2018

Abstract

Housing is a great problem in today and future world, the most basic building material for infrastructure construction and houses is the usual bricks or blocks. Although there are approximately 2,500 000 hectares of peat soils in Malaysia, only a small portion of this as being utilised. In this study, peat soil was investigated in tandem with the production of lightweight bricks. Peat soil, sand, cement and hydrated lime mixtures were steam autoclaved under different test conditions to produce brick samples. The purpose for this study was undertaken on the production of compressed peat – siliceous sand, PFA, OPC cement and lime as solid bricks to solving the problems of housing and builds the construction economically and environmentally by utilising local materials. The compressive strength and water absorption of stabilised peat bricks obtained under 6 and 10 Mpa pressure are 5.48 and 7.10 Mpa; 4.75 and 2.6%, respectively. Tests were also conducted to study correlation between wet compressive strength and water absorption; it was found negative values, increase in strength decreased water absorption and hardening of the bricks with time.

Key words: Stabilised peat bricks, strength, water absorption, correlation.

African Journal of Water Conservation and Sustainability ISSN: 2375-0936 Vol. 7 (3), pp. 001-010, March, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Water resources management for agricultural growth in dry lands in developing countries

Mukole Kongolo

CENTRUM Católica, Business School, Pontificia Universidad CatólicadelPerú. Calle Daniel Alomía Robles 125 – 129, Los Alamos de Monterrico, Santiago de Surco, Lima 33 – Perú. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 21 October, 2018

Abstract

Water resources are critical for human consumption, agriculture and industrial development. They have been and will remain very important commodities for human survival and economic development. Addressing water resources management requires action at the local, national and international levels. The need to provide all people with adequate supplies of clean water is becoming a more challenging task. The need for water increases with increase in population, food production and the level of economic activities. A lack of water inhibits socio- economic development and economic progress. As economic development and population growth are taking an increasing toll on water resources in each and every country, water resources management becomes even more critical. High prices of water remains of concern in most developing countries as the majority of households are poor. This study explores issues related to water resources management for both human consumption and economic growth in developing countries, using secondary information obtained through a document methods study. The examination of such information assists in looking at water resources management in developing countries, holistically.

Key words: Water resources, management, agricultural growth, dry lands, developing countries.