Abstract
Monitoring of groundwater is important in both rural and urban areas as it indicates whether groundwater can be usable. Groundwater quality is affected by human activities such as industrial and mining, urbanization and deteriorating standards in wastewater treatment, agricultural drainage, land use patterns and waste disposal as these activities have a huge impact on groundwater pollution. The evaluation of biological and physical constituency of groundwater and identifying if the water was suitable for intended use, especially drinking and for irrigation was being assessed at the University of Johannesburg Doornfontein Campus in Johannesburg. This led to investigating determinants such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total coliform and E. coli. Collection of samples was done using 100ml bottles and samples were stored in a cooler box containing ice. Temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity were measured using the H198129 meter. Turbidity was measured using TN 100 turbidimeter. Total coliform and E. Coli were measured in the laboratory using Colilert-18 Test Kit and IDEXX Quanti-tray/ 2000 MPN Table.
Temperature of groundwater ranged from 17.9 °C to 25.4 °C depending on the time the samples were collected. pH ranged from 4.13 to 7.59 with 4.13 the only pH measurement that did not fall within the drinking water pH range. Turbidity ranged from 0.15 to 6.26 NTU with 5.55 and 6.26 NTU as high turbidity reading. The two high readings did not fall within the drinking water turbidity standards and the environmental or accepted turbidity risk required by SANS 241-2015. The electrical conductivity ranged from 31.1 to 51 mS/m, which met the drinking water standards as EC should be less than 170mS/m according to SANS 241-2015. All the samples contained Total coliform where on the 28th of October and it recorded a no countable number of total coliforms which was greater than 2419.6 MPN. While E. coli was recorded high on the 28th of October as it read 162 MPN. Based on the results obtained on the groundwater at the University of Johannesburg Doornfontein Campus is not suitable for drinking, but it is suitable for irrigation as it met the environment standard use focusing on the total coliform and E. coli results. The objectives that were being set were met, but some parameters that were not measured limited the conclusion that groundwater at UJ Doornfontein Campus may be acceptable for consumption.