Joshua N. Edokpayi and John O. Odiyo and Patience P. Shikwambana
Seasonal Variation of the Impact of Mining Activities on GaSelati River in Limpopo Province, South Africa
156 - 161
2016
10
2
International Journal of Biological and Ecological Engineering
https://publications.waset.org/pdf/10003654
https://publications.waset.org/vol/110
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
Water is a very rare natural resource in South Africa. GaSelati River is used for both domestic and industrial purposes. This study was carried out in order to assess the quality of GaSelati River in a mining area of Limpopo ProvincePhalaborwa. The pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) were determined using a Crinson multimeter while turbidity was measured using a Labcon Turbidimeter. The concentrations of Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Pb were analysed in triplicate using a Varian 520 flame atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) supplied by PerkinElmer, after acid digestion with nitric acid in a fume cupboard. The average pH of the river from eight different sampling sites was 8.00 and 9.38 in wet and dry season respectively. Higher EC values were determined in the dry season (138.7 mSm) than in the wet season (96.93 mSm). Similarly, TDS values were higher in dry (929.29 mgL) than in the wet season (640.72 mgL) season. These values exceeded the recommended guideline of South Africa Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) for domestic water use (70 mSm) and that of the World Health Organization (WHO) (600 mSm), respectively. Turbidity varied between 1.785.20 and 0.952.37 NTU in both wet and dry seasons. Total hardness of 312.50 mgL and 297.75 mgL as the concentration of CaCO3 was computed for the river in both the wet and the dry seasons and the river water was categorised as very hard. Mean concentration of the metals studied in both the wet and the dry seasons are Na (94.06 mgL and 196.3 mgL), K (11.79 mgL and 13.62 mgL), Ca (45.60 mgL and 41.30 mgL), Mg (48.41 mgL and 44.71 mgL), Al (0.31 mgL and 0.38 mgL), Cd (0.01 mgL and 0.01 mgL), Cr (0.02 mgL and 0.09 mgL), Pb (0.05 mgL and 0.06 mgL), Mn (0.31 mgL and 0.11 mgL) and Fe (0.76 mgL and 0.69 mgL). Results from this study reveal that most of the metals were present in concentrations higher than the recommended guidelines of DWAF and WHO for domestic use and the protection of aquatic life.
Open Science Index 110, 2016