Physicochemical Assessment of a Hand-dug Well and the Kamakubuna Stream in the Sella Limba Chiefdom, Kamakwie, Northern, Sierra Leone

Abstract

This research accesses the physical and chemical parameters of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) hand dug well and the Kamakubuna Stream in the Sella Limba Chiefdom, Kamakwie Town. The physical parameters such as total dissolved solid (TDS), turbidity, pH, temperature, conductivity; and the chemical parameters such as residual chlorine, ammonium, ammonia, bromine, copper, fluoride, iron, nitrite, potassium, phosphate, sulphate, nitrogen-nitrate and bicarbonate. The samples were collected from the MAFFS hand dug well and the Kamakubuna stream, and transported to the water quality laboratory within thirty minutes. A physicochemical analysis was done on the water samples. The results analysed shown that the parameters were within the WHO accepted guidelines, except for low pH values and high mean value in turbidity for the MAFFS hand dug well. Key words: Hand dug well, WHO, parameters, samples and stream.