Assessment of physicochemical and bacteriological water quality of drinking water in Ankober district, Amhara region, Ethiopia

Abstract Clean, safe and adequate freshwater is vital to the survival of all living organisms and smooth functioning of ecosystems, communities and economies. Surface water is becoming highly susceptible to pollution, and the trend of production of groundwater for various purposes has been increased from time to time. Groundwater will also be vulnerable to contamination by natural processes and anthropogenic disturbances and, thus, deserves appropriate attention and action. In the present study, spring water samples were collected from the Ankober district in low-, middle- and high-altitude areas in dry, semi-dry and wet seasons in 2015. Bacteriological (total coliform [TC] and fecal coliform [FC]) and physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, salinity, total alkalinity (TA), total hardness (TH), Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+, Mn2+, Cl−, SO4 2−, CO3 2−, HCO3 −, NO3 − and F− were analyzed to assess its suitability for domestic purposes. The results of the study showed that most of the parameters were found to be within the safe limit values of the WHO and Ethiopian standards for drinking water except some values at the lowest attitude area: TC/FC (147/1 per 100 ml) and F− (1.68 mg/L) in the dry season, Mg2+ (52.1 mg/L) in the semi-dry season and K+ (1.59–51.15 mg/L) in all three seasons. Furthermore, the values of Fe2+ (0.448–1.005 mg/L) were above the limit in most of the samples. Generally, spring water in the assessed areas is safe for domestic applications with slight variability in the low-altitude area. For sustainable use, vulnerability mapping and awareness creation are strongly recommended.