by Kolade Olatunde, Susan Kane Patton, Laura Cameron, Tony Stankus and Plangkat James Milaham
Review Article
Safe drinking water is a product that is free of contaminants which pose short and long-term risks to the consumers’ well-being. It is an indispensable resource that safeguards public health and engenders sustainable economic development. We conducted a systematic review of journal article published between 2010-2020 to (a) identify, appraise, and synthesize the best available evidence for the factors that affect the quality of drinking water in the United States of America (b) make appropriate recommendations to improve the quality of drinking water. Eligible studies were systematically reviewed and selected for analysis from searches of 21,042 publications identified from six databases. We analyzed factors affecting quality of ground water, surface water, water treatment plants, water distribution systems, tap water and bottled water. 201 studies were included in this review, and more than half were published between 2016-2020. The major water contaminant identified from this review was chemical waste from industries (33.3%), followed by pathogens (32.3%), metals and naturally occurring substances (23.9%), pharmaceuticals (9.0%), natural gas and oil (1.0%) and biogenic substance (0.5%). Therefore, factors affecting the quality of water include industrial activities, pathogens especially from fecal contamination of water, agricultural practices, naturally occurring substances, pharmaceutical substances, and natural disasters. There is need to enforce regulations that protect all sources of drinking water from pollution by industrial effluents and other anthropogenic sources. Improvements in water treatment processes and continuous water monitoring, especially in the rural areas, will help to improve the quality of drinking water in the United States. Systematic review registration: The systematic review protocol was registered (CRD42021271183) and is published on PROSPERO.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2022, 10(1), 24-34. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-10-1-4
Pub. Date: May 17, 2022
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by Khairul Hasan, Sondipon Paul, Khayrun Nahar Mitu and Fuad Bin Nasir
Original Research
The article presents groundwater potential recharge zone analysis in the Wolf River watershed applying the Geographic Information System (GIS) technique. Six thematic layers: elevation, slope, drainage density, rainfall, land cover, and soil type are prepared and integrated for the spatial analysis. The analysis applies the multi-criteria-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to obtain each layer's weight. The thematic layers with the assigned weightage are overlain in a weighted overlay analysis to develop the study area's potential groundwater recharge zone map. Potential recharge zones are classified into four categories: very low, low, medium, and high. The result shows that the medium zone occupies a large portion of the watershed's central and southern regions. The study also reveals that the high and low zones cover a minimal watershed area. The findings can help policymakers make informed decisions for sustainable management of groundwater resources of the study area.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2022, 10(1), 17-23. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-10-1-3
Pub. Date: April 28, 2022
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by Arnaud Ouédraogo, Tiraogo Prince Florian Bouda, Dial Niang and Hamma Yacouba
Original Research
For several decades, Burkina Faso, including other Sahelian countries, has been facing a number of climate-related issues. As a matter of fact, due to underdevelopment and inappropriate response strategies, the situation is worsening. This study, aiming at understanding the impacts of climate variability, was conducted in the commune of Sourgou in Burkina Faso. The approach consisted in analyzing climate data from surveys sampled with 422 agricultural households. Land use data from 1989, 2002 to 2019 were processed to better understand soil dynamics in the study area. Results revealed a change in the duration of the rainy season with a late start and an early end. It also included the variability of climate features and an increasingly recurrent occurrence of pockets of drought exceeding 10 days. The analysis of land use dynamics showed a regression of vegetation cover (18.26%), an increase in bare soil (15.75%), mixed crops (44.88%) and a decrease in single rainfed crops (45.64%). Adaptation strategies adopted range from soil conservation techniques such as the zaï technique (21.6%), stone cordons (67.1%), biological techniques such as mulching (31.5%) to mitigating adaptive activities such as irrigated farming (61.1%). Considering socio-economic, political and environmental issues raised in line with the adoption of the adaptation strategies, enormous efforts are to be made in developing common regulations and local adaptation techniques for farmers to consistently apprehend the issue.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2022, 10(1), 9-16. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-10-1-2
Pub. Date: March 17, 2022
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by E.C. Amadi, E.A. Eze, Nwangwu C.C, Ani P.N., Okpara T.C. and Chukwuma S.T.
There is need for alternate quick-search of pathogens’ distribution in community water sources, instead of the cumbersome “Escherichia coli detection.” Parasites were evaluated as possible indicators of faecal contamination of surface waters, using Adada River in Nigeria as case-study. Seventeen parasites of medical importance (in dry season) and 13 (rainy season) isolated from the river (at measured geographical coordinates) were analyzed for their quality and quantity and connected with the distribution of the river’s isolated Escherichia coli, using Pearson’s Correlation Analysis. The 17 parasites consist of: Taenia sp, E. coli, E. histolytica, B coli, Cercaria/miracidia, S mansoni, S haematobium, A. lumbricoides, Giardia sp, hookworm, T. trichiura, S. stercoralis, I. butschlii, C. mesnili, E. nana, B. hominis and H. diminuta; while the 13 consist of: Taenia sp,. E. coli, E. histolytica, B. coli, S. mansoni, A. lumbricoides, Giardia sp, hookworm, T. trichiura, S. stercoralis, I. butschlii, C. mesnili and E. vermicularis. Biological index, using the Pearson’s Correlation Analysis, revealed significant correlation relationship of Escherichia coli with the presence of I butschlii in the dry season), non in rainy season. From the evaluation, potential index analysis indicated that I. butschlii could serve as markers for Escherichia coli faecal bacteria indicator, and possible index for future monitoring of the potability of such surface waters. The methodology is straight forward, cost effective, less cumbersome than other currently existing approaches.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2022, 10(1), 1-8. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-10-1-1
Pub. Date: January 13, 2022
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