article · HydroResearch
In Douala, roughly 80 percent of the urban population depends on unregulated groundwater sources. An evaluation of samples collected from hand-dug wells, springs, and boreholes reveals severe water quality challenges. Groundwater pH values fall outside World Health Organization limits, exhibiting excessive acidity for drinking. The hydrochemistry reflects strong anthropogenic influence, with sodium-chloride water making up over three-quarters of the samples alongside calcium-chloride and calcium-magnesium-chloride types. The Water Quality Index categorises 90.5 percent of the tested water as poor to unsuitable for consumption. Heavy metal evaluation indices show that the groundwater is lightly to moderately polluted. Consequently, health risk assessments confirm that heavy metal ingestion introduces non-carcinogenic health hazards for children, underscoring the urgent requirement for systematic groundwater monitoring to support safe water provision.
A vast majority of residents in this major urban centre rely entirely on unmonitored groundwater for daily needs. Widespread acidity and heavy metal contamination render most of this supply unfit for consumption, posing direct non-carcinogenic health risks to children. Documenting these specific contaminants is vital for public health authorities and water managers seeking to target intervention programmes and protect vulnerable urban populations.
The findings indicate potential demand for municipal monitoring programmes, low-cost testing kits, and community-scale filtration units capable of correcting acidity and removing heavy metals. However, the abstract reports diagnostic environmental research rather than a proprietary solution. Practical applications remain at an early concept stage, requiring water treatment providers or sensor developers to design, validate, and deploy appropriate remediation and testing technologies for the identified water profiles.
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Douala is one of the largest cities in sub-Saharan Africa where 80% of the population relies on groundwater without any control of their quality. In this context, this study evaluates the groundwater quality and the implications for human health. Water samples, including hand dugs wells, spring waters and borehole were collected. pH values are out of the WHO limit, with too much acidity for human consumption. Three water types are identified: Na–Cl (76.2%), Ca–Cl (14.3%) and Ca-Mg-Cl (9.5%) indicating significant anthropogenic fingerprint. Water Quality Index shows that 90.5% of the samples have “poor” to “unsuitable” quality for drinking purposes. Heavy metal Pollution Index and Heavy Metal Evaluation Index highlight that the groundwater are “lightly” to “moderately” polluted. Human Health Risk tool shows that heavy metal poses a non-carcinogenic risk by ingestion of water for child. These results highlight the necessity of groundwater monitoring to ensure a sustainable water supply.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.hydres.2023.01.003
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