Assessing impacts of sand mining on water quality in Toutsang locality and design of waste water purification system
Ypolit Kemgang Lekomo, Clautaire Mwebi Ekengoue, Aurel Douola, Rodrigue Fotie Lele, Guedjeo Christian Suh, Samuel Obiri, Armand Kagou Dongmo
Abstract
This paper focuses on assessing and development of water purification system for addressing water quality effects associated with sand mining in Toutsang locality, West-Cameroon. The study approach involved field investigations, laboratory analysis and design of waste water treatment system. Water samples were randomly collected from the study into well-labeled containers and conveyed to Unité de Recherche d’Analyse des Sols et Chimie de l’Environnement, Faculté d’Agronomie et des Sciences Agricoles (FASA) at the University of Dschang for analysis. Results from the physico-chemical analysis show elevated levels of total suspended solids (TSS), magnesium (Mg), turbidity and iron (Fe) in water samples collected downstream of the River close to the mining site, which exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Based on the results of the physico-chemical analysis, a waste water treatment comprising of sedimentation tanks is proposed to treat waste water from the sand mining site. The designed water treatment system can be used to treat contaminated water from sand mining sites for domestic use. The proposed model tank needs to be implemented to restore Toutsang Water quality for indoor purpose and household use.