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Water quality

Rashid
related country: Kenya

An infiltration well was drilled a long river tana Kenya then piping to household connections was done by service provider a friend(consumer) ask me when the tap is opened for fetching water the colour,smell of water not normal that you can observe it by eyes and in another case water vendor once told water fetched directly from the river is much better for them compared to that of infiltration well which seems to be hard and leave mark in their vendor so I'm asking what could be the possible contaminat in that well that lead the consumer have this kind of physical observations about source of water. Past experience of same case and way forward solutions please provide I'm young water officer focal person for WASH Patrners in my area looking forward to make change for such issues.


1 Answer

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Hi, Rashid.

Here is an answer from:

Vincent Casey Senior WASH Manager Water WaterAid

More information about the nature of the contamination would help to make a diagnosis and identify follow up steps.

A water quality test looking at measurement of: Conductivity Turbidity pH Iron Manganese Sulphate Nitrate TTC (thermo tolerant coliforms)

In the river, the well and at the tap where water is drawn will help to identify the possible cause and remedial actions.

All surface sources including rivers are highly contaminated with pathogens so it is not generally advisable to consume water directly from rivers without some form of treatment.

The issue could be related to pipes and corrosion, infiltration of contaminants into the well or a failure of the well to reduce turbidity of the river water. The tests will help to shed some light on next steps.