Effects of Illegal Mining Activities on Water Resources for Irrigation Purposes, Amansie West District, Ghana

2016

English

This paper assessed the suitability of water in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana for irrigation purposes and future planning of clean water resources. Twenty one (21) locations were selected on the major rivers and their tributaries in the district for sampling and the water samples taken at the depth of 15cm from the rivers. The samples were analyzed at Soil Research Institute’s Laboratory for irrigation water quality parameters and compared with international water quality standard set for irrigation. All the irrigation water quality parameters, pH, temperature, ECw, TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, K and SAR were within the permissible limit and suitable for irrigation. Heavy metals (Fe, Pb and Cd) levels were all within allowable limits except Mn and Zn. However, further study to examine anions such as bicarbonate and carbonate for irrigation suitability is recommended.

Quansah, G.; Sadick, A.; Fennings, J.; Nketia, K.; Asamoah, E.