Department of Biology, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802, USA E-mail:
Sahelian Solutions Foundation, P.O. Box 85-90200, Kitui, Kenya.
J Water Health. 2020 Aug;18(4):602-612. doi: 10.2166/wh.2020.192.
Sand dams can be an effective community-scale solution to increasing water supplies in some arid and semi-arid regions, but there are few studies that have investigated water quality at sand dams. This study investigated the levels of coliform bacteria and salt content as parameters of potential concern. Most water taken from sand dam sources had fecal coliforms present. Median fecal coliforms were in the range of 150-800 cfu/100 ml for unprotected sources (scoop holes, surface water or hand dug wells), levels which are considered high or very high health risk. Pump wells had less contamination, with fecal coliforms detected in one-third of samples in the dry season. Despite this contamination, user surveys indicated that 74% of communities generally view water as clean for drinking, and 72% reported that no or few people in their community treat their water. Salt content in the dry season was in the poor or unacceptable range (above 900 ppm as total dissolved solids) in 33% of water samples. Results suggest that fecal coliforms and salt content represent two types of challenges to water quality at sand dams: fecal coliforms are a health hazard, whereas high salt content potentially reduces the amount of usable water that is available.
沙坝可以成为一些干旱和半干旱地区增加供水的有效社区规模解决方案，但很少有研究调查沙坝的水质。本研究调查了大肠菌群细菌和盐含量作为潜在关注参数的水平。从沙坝水源中采集的大多数水样都存在粪大肠菌群。未受保护的水源（勺孔、地表水或手挖井）的中位粪大肠菌群范围为 150-800 cfu/100 ml，被认为是高或极高健康风险水平。泵井的污染程度较低，在旱季有三分之一的样本检测到粪大肠菌群。尽管存在这种污染，但用户调查表明，74%的社区普遍认为水是干净的可饮用的，72%的社区报告说，他们社区中没有人或很少有人对水进行处理。在旱季，33%的水样中盐含量处于较差或不可接受的范围（总溶解固体超过 900 ppm）。结果表明，粪大肠菌群和盐含量代表了沙坝水质的两类挑战：粪大肠菌群是健康危害，而高盐含量可能会减少可用的可用水量。
