School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JL, United Kingdom.
Sci Total Environ. 2010 May 1;408(11):2378-86. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.01.053. Epub 2010 Mar 5.
To reduce child mortality and improve health in Ghana boreholes and wells are being installed across the country by the private sector, NGO's and the Ghanaian government. Water quality is not generally monitored once a water source has been improved. Water supplies were sampled across Ghana from mostly boreholes, wells and rivers as well as some piped water from the different regions and analysed for the chemical quality. Chemical water quality was found to exceed the WHO guidelines in 38% of samples, while pH varied from 3.7 to 8.9. Excess levels of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) were found in 21% of the samples, manganese (Mn) and fluoride (F(-)) in 11% and 6.7%, respectively. Heavy metals such as lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and uranium (U) were localised to mining areas. Elements without health based guideline values such as aluminium (Al, 95%) and chloride (Cl, 5.7%) were found above the provisional guideline value. Economic information was gathered to identify water costs and ability to pay. Capital costs of wells and boreholes are about pound1200 and pound3800 respectively. The majority of installation costs are generally paid by the government or NGO's, while the maintenance is expected to be covered by the community. At least 58% of the communities had a water payment system in place, either an annual fee/one-off fee or "pay-as-you-fetch". The annual fee was between pound0.3-21, while the boreholes had a water collection fee of pound0.07-0.7/m(3), many wells were free. Interestingly, the most expensive water ( pound2.9-3.5/m(3)) was brought by truck. Many groundwater sources were not used due to poor chemical water quality. Considering the cost of unsuccessful borehole development, the potential for integrating suitable water treatment into the capital and maintenance costs of water sources is discussed. Additionally, many sources were not in use due to lack of water capacity, equipment malfunction or lack of economic resources to repair and maintain equipment. Those issues need to be addressed in combination with water quality, coordinated water supply provision and possible treatment to ensure sustainability of improved water resources.
为了降低儿童死亡率并改善加纳的健康状况，私营部门、非政府组织和加纳政府正在全国各地安装水井和钻孔。一旦水源得到改善，通常就不会监测水质。从加纳各地采集水样，包括大部分钻孔、水井和河流，以及来自不同地区的一些管道水，并对其化学质量进行分析。研究发现，在 38%的样本中，化学水质超过了世界卫生组织的指导方针，而 pH 值在 3.7 到 8.9 之间变化。在 21%的样本中发现了过量的硝酸盐（NO3(-)），在 11%和 6.7%的样本中分别发现了锰（Mn）和氟化物（F(-)）。铅（Pb）、砷（As）和铀（U）等重金属集中在矿区。没有基于健康的指导值的元素，如铝（Al，95%）和氯（Cl，5.7%），其含量超过临时指导值。收集经济信息以确定水成本和支付能力。水井和钻孔的资本成本分别约为 1200 英镑和 3800 英镑。安装成本的大部分通常由政府或非政府组织支付，而维护费用预计由社区承担。至少有 58%的社区建立了水支付系统，要么是年费/一次性费用，要么是“按需付费”。年费在 0.3 到 21 英镑之间，而钻孔的水收集费为 0.07 到 0.7 英镑/立方米，许多水井是免费的。有趣的是，最昂贵的水（2.9-3.5 英镑/立方米）是用卡车运来的。由于水质不佳，许多地下水源未被使用。考虑到不成功的钻孔开发成本，有必要讨论将合适的水处理纳入水源的资本和维护成本的潜力。此外，许多水源因水量不足、设备故障或缺乏修复和维护设备的经济资源而未被使用。这些问题需要与水质、协调供水以及可能的处理结合起来，以确保改善水资源的可持续性。
