Development and Application of Water Quality Index (WQI) for the Evaluation of the Physico-Chemical Quality of Groundwater in Gold Mining Areas of Southeastern Senegal
Water is the most essential requirement for life. It provides a variety of purposes such as a source of water supply for drinking, domestic and industrial use, irrigated agriculture, livestock, and mining activities. Evaluating the status of water quality from traditional approaches does not guarantee the whole overview of the water quality situation. Therefore, developing a tool that can convert multiple parameters data into information that is understandable by both technical and non-technical personnel is vital. In this context, the purpose of this paper was to develop, calculate, and apply a water quality index for assessing the suitability (for drinking purposes) of groundwater in the gold mining areas in south-eastern Senegal. The development of this index based on WHO water quality guidelines followed the five standards steps i.e., parameters selection, sub-index formation, parameters weighting and sub-index aggregation and evaluation. Finally, the WQI summarized twelve key water quality parameters into 05 simple terms (excellent, good, medium, poor, and very poor) which is more relevant for reporting to managers and the public in a consistent manner. Thus, it was observed in the study area, that the water quality indexes in artisanal and industrial mining areas are either poor or very poor while in the reference stations (where there are no mining activities) WQI are either good or excellent. This situation was attributed to the effects of mining activities in such zones which contribute to the pollution of groundwater with heavy metals, nitrates, and suspended solids.
References
[1]
Jiang, Y., Lin, W., Wu, M., Liu, K., Yu, X. and Gao, J. (2022) Remote Sensing Monitoring of Ecological-Economic Impacts in the Belt and Road Initiatives Mining Project: A Case Study in Sino Iron and Taldybulak Levoberezhny. Remote Sensing, 14, 3308. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143308
[2]
Hirons, M., Hilson, G., Asase, A. and Hodson, M.E. (2014) Mining in a Changing Climate: What Scope for Forestry-Based Legacies? Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 430-438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.025
[3]
Kobayashi, H., Watando, H. and Kakimoto, M. (2014) A Global Extent Site-Level Analysis of Land Cover and Protected Area Overlap with Mining Activities as an Indicator of Biodiversity Pressure. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 459-468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.049
[4]
Murguía, D.I., Bringezu, S. and Schaldach, R. (2016) Global Direct Pressures on Biodiversity by Large-Scale Metal Mining: Spatial Distribution and Implications for Conservation. Journal of Environmental Management, 180, 409-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.05.040
[5]
Hodge, R.A. (2014) Mining Company Performance and Community Conflict: Moving beyond a Seeming Paradox. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 27-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.09.007
[6]
Aragón, F.M. and Rud, J.P. (2013) Natural Resources and Local Communities: Evidence from a Peruvian Gold Mine. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 5, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.5.2.1
[7]
Loayza, N. and Rigolini, J. (2016) The Local Impact of Mining on Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from the Commodity Boom in Peru. World Development, 84, 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.03.005
[8]
Lechner, A.M., Chan, F.K.S. and Campos-Arceiz, A. (2018) Biodiversity Conservation Should Be a Core Value of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2, 408-409. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0452-8
[9]
Bamba, Y. (2012) Evalua-tion des impacts de l’exploitation de la mine d’or de Bonikro (Cote d’Ivoire) sur les ressources en eau. Mémoire de Master en Ingénierie de l’eau et de l’Environnement. Institut international d’ingénierie de l’eau et de l’environnement (IIEE), 55 p.
[10]
Niane, B. (2014) Impacts environnementaux liés à l’utilisation du mercure lors de l’exploitation artisanale de l’or dans la région de Kédougou (Sénégal orien-tal). Thèse de doctorat ès Sciences Mention Sciences de la Terre, Université de Genève, Genève, 110 p.
[11]
Mall, I. (2017) Evaluation des ressources en eau dans le Sénégal oriental: Apports des outils Géochimiques, Géostatistiques, de la Télédétection et des SIG. Thèse de doctorat de l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Dakar, 232 p.
[12]
Lobo, F. (2015) Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Water Siltation Caused by Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Tapajós Water Basin, Brazilian Amazon: An Optics and Remote Sensing Approach. Ph.D., University of Victoria, Victoria.
[13]
Lobo, F.D.L., Costa, M., Novo, E.M.L.d.M. and Telmer, K. (2016) Distribution of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Tapajós River Basin (Brazilian Amazon) over the Past 40 Years and Relationship with Water Sil-tation. Remote Sensing, 8, 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8070579
[14]
Aranguren, S. and Miguel, M. (2008) Contamination en métaux lourds des eaux de surface et des sédiments du Val de Milluni (Andes Boliviennes) par des déchets miniers. Approches géochimique, minéralogique et hydrochimique. Thèse de doctorat de l’Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, 381 p.
[15]
Boah, D.K., Twum, S.B. and Pelig-Ba, K.B. (2015) Math-ematical Computation of Water Quality Index of Vea Dam in Upper East Region of Ghana. https://doi.org/10.12988/es.2015.4116
[16]
Tyagi, S., Sharma, B., Singh, P. and Dobhal, R. (2013) Water Quality Assessment in Terms of Water Quality Index. American Journal of Water Resources, 1, 34-38. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajwr-1-3-3
[17]
World Health Organization (2008) Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality: Second Addendum. Volume 1, Recom-mendations. World Health Organization, Geneva.
[18]
Pande, C.B., Moharir, K.N., Singh, S.K. and Dzwairo, B. (2020) Groundwater Evaluation for Drinking Purposes Using Statistical Index: Study of Akola and Buldhana Districts of Maharashtra, In-dia. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22, 7453-7471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00531-0
[19]
Kouadri, S., Pande, C.B., Panneerselvam, B., Moharir, K.N. and Elbeltagi, A. (2022) Prediction of Irrigation Groundwater Quality Parameters Using ANN, LSTM, and MLR Models. Environ-mental Science and Pollution Research, 29, 21067-21091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17084-3
[20]
Lakshmi, E. and Madhu, G. (2014) An Assessment of Water Quality in River Periyar, Kerala, South India Using Water Quality Index. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology, 8, 11-16. https://doi.org/10.9790/2402-08821116
[21]
Nasirian, M. (2007) A New Water Quality Index for Environmental Contamination Contributed by Mineral Processing: A Case Study of Amang (Tin Tailing) Processing Activity. Journal of Applied Sciences, 7, 2977-2987. https://doi.org/10.3923/jas.2007.2977.2987
[22]
Boyacioglu, H. (2010) Uti-lization of the Water Quality Index Method as a Classification Tool. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 167, 115-124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1035-1
[23]
Khan, F., Husain, T. and Lumb, A. (2003) Water Quality Evaluation and Trend Analysis in Selected Water-sheds of the Atlantic Region of Canada. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 88, 221-242. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025573108513
[24]
Mor, D. (2018) Etude des impacts de l’exploitation de l’or sur les ressources en eau dans le bassin du fleuve Gambie au niveau de Sabodala et environs. Mémoire de master en sciences de l’environnement, ISE/UCAD, 109 p.
[25]
Théveniaut, H., Ndiaye, P.M., Buscail, F., Coueffé, R., Delor, C., Fullgraf, T. and Goujou, J.-C. (2010) No-tice explicative de la carte géologique du Sénégal oriental à 1/500 000. Ministère des Mines, de l’Industrie, de l’Agro-Industrie et des PME, Direction des Mines et de la Géologie, Dakar.
[26]
Mall, I., Moctar, D., Maguette, D.N., Diakher, M.H., Malick, N.P. and Serigne, F. (2015) Evaluation of Water Resources Quality in Sabodala Gold Mining Region and Its Surrounding Area (Senegal). Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 7, 247-263. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2015.73020
[27]
Banda, T.D. and Kumarasamy, M.V. (2020) Development of Water Quality Indices (WQIs): A Review. https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes/110526
[28]
Horton, R.K. (1965) An Index Number for Rating Water Quality. Journal of Water Pollution Control Federation, 37, 300-306.
[29]
Sutadian, A.D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A.G. and Perera, B.J.C. (2016) Development of River Water Quality Indices—A Review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188, Article No. 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-5050-0
[30]
Poonam, T., Tanushree, B. and Sukalyan, C. (2013) Water Quality Indices-Important Tools for Water Quality Assessment: A Review. International Journal of Advances in Chemistry, 1, 15-28.
[31]
Paun, I., Cruceru, L.V., Chiriac, L.F., Niculescu, M., Vasile, G.G. and Marin, N.M. (2016) Water Quality Indices Methods for Evaluating the Quality of Drinking Water. In: 19th INCD ECOIND International Symposium—SIMI 2016, “The Environment and the Industry”, ECOIND, Bucharest, 395-402.
[32]
Abbasi, T. and Abbas, S.A. (2012) Water Quality Indices. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 353. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-54304-2.00016-6
[33]
Boyacioglu, H. (2007) Development of a Water Quality Index Based on a European Classification Scheme.
[34]
Brown, R.M., McClelland, N.I., Deininger, R.A. and O’Connor, M.F. (1972) Water Quality Index—Crashing the Psychological Barrier. Proceedings 6th Annual Conference, Jerusalem, 18-23 June 1972, 787-794. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-017005-3.50067-0
[35]
Chatterjee, C. and Raziuddin, M. (2002) Determination of Water Quality Index of a Degraded River in Asanol Industrial Area, Raniganj, Burdwan, West Bengal. Nature, Environment and Pollution Technology, 1, 181-189.
[36]
Rubio-Arias, H., Ochoa-Rivero, J., Quintana, R., et al. (2013) Development of a Water Quality Index (WQI) of an Artificial Aquatic Ecosystem in Mexico. Journal of Environmental Protection, 4, 1296-1306. https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2013.411151
[37]
Bascaron, M. (1979) Establishment of a Methodology for the Determination of Water Quality. Boletín Informativo Medio Ambiente, 9, 30-51.
[38]
CCME (2001) Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life. CCME Water Quality Index 1.0, User’s Manual, Winnipeg.
[39]
Cude, C.G. (2001) Oregon Water Quality Index: A Tool for Evaluating Water Quality Management Effectiveness. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 37, 125-137. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2001.tb05480.x
[40]
Malistani, H.A., Jawadi, H.A., Sidle, R.C., Khawary, M. and Khan, A.A. (2022) Water Resources and Water Quality Assessment, Central Bamyan, Afghanistan. Water, 14, 3060. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14193060
[41]
Diouf, S. (1999) Hydrgéologie en zone de socle cristallin et cristallophyllien du Sénégal oriental. Application de la méthode électrique 1D et 2D à la localisation et à la caractérisation des aquifères du batholite de Saraya et ses environs. Thèse de doctorat de 3ecycle, Univ. C.A.D. de Dakar, Dakar, 159 p.
[42]
Yoboue, K.K.M. (2017) La question de la remédiation environnementale résultant de l’exploitation artisanale, à petite échelle du diamant: Cas de l’Union du Fleuve Mano. Thèse de doctorat de l’Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, 278 p.
