Groundwater resources in the East African Rift Valley: Understanding the geogenic contamination and water quality challenges in Tanzania

Fanuel Ligate; Julian Ijumulana; Arslan Ahmad; Vivian Kimambo; Regina Irunde; Joseph O. Mtamba; Felix Mtalo; Prosun Bhattacharya

Scientific African (Sep 2021)

Groundwater resources in the East African Rift Valley: Understanding the geogenic contamination and water quality challenges in Tanzania

Fanuel Ligate,
Julian Ijumulana,
Arslan Ahmad,
Vivian Kimambo,
Regina Irunde,
Joseph O. Mtamba,
Felix Mtalo,
Prosun Bhattacharya

Affiliations

Fanuel Ligate: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden; Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Department of Chemistry, Mkwawa College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Corresponding author at: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden and Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Julian Ijumulana: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden; Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Arslan Ahmad: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden; KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7 3433 PE, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
Vivian Kimambo: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden; Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Regina Irunde: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden; Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Joseph O. Mtamba: Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Felix Mtalo: Department of Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Prosun Bhattacharya: KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13
p. e00831

Abstract

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Over the years, groundwater has been used as a means of adaptation to the seasonal and perennial scarcity of surface water. Groundwater provides water for households, livestock, and irrigation in semi-arid areas of Tanzania. It is acknowledged that groundwater is susceptible to chemical and other mineral contamination which not only poses a threat to the health of human beings and livestock but also agriculture. However, the potential of groundwater in terms of its viability and quality has not received adequate scrutiny from scholars. This paper provides a review of water quality and highlights the geogenic contamination of groundwater resources in Tanzania. The literature reviewed focused on the water resource sector in the major drainage basins of Tanzania, the information about drinking water quality with respect to geogenic contamination were sought. This paper has established that fluoride is the main and well-known groundwater contaminant. This is attributed to the existence of fluoride-rich minerals such as fluorite (CaF2), fluorapatite (Ca5(PO4)3F), cryolite (Na3AlF6), sellaite (MgF2), villiaumite (NaF), and topaz ((Al2(SiO4)F2), bastnaesite ((Ca, La, Nd)CO3F), and their ash deposits peeling from the granite and alkaline volcanic rocks, dominant in the region. The presence of fluoride in water sources in northern Tanzannia, part of the EARV contributes to the serious health effects on humans such as dental, skeletal, and crippling fluorosis. In addition, some literature indicated arsenic as a serious drinking water geogenic pollutant in the north-west parts of Tanzania. They pointed out that oxidation of arsenopyrite minerals is responsible for the dissolution and release of arsenic into groundwater. From this review we conclude that information on geochemistry/hydro-geochemistry of fluoride and arsenic in the aquifers is far inadequate and recommends that more research and development (R&D) efforts from scholars, researchers, and government institutions should be invested for further investigations and solutions. The focus should be creating awareness about the danger of using arsenic and fluoride contaminated water and development of affordable and environmental friendly water purification technologies.

Published in Scientific African

ISSN: 2468-2276 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/scientific-african

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