Assessment of Physical-Chemical Drinking Water Quality in the Logone Valley (Chad-Cameroon)

Unsafe drinking water is one of the main concerns in developing countries. In order to deal with this problem, a cooperation project was set up by the ACRA Foundation in the Logone valley (Chad-Cameroon). Water supplies were sampled throughout the villages of this area mostly from boreholes, open wells, rivers and lakes as well as some piped waters. The samples were analysed for their physical-chemical and microbiological quality in order to identify the contamination problems and suggest appropriate solutions. Results of the assessment confirmed that in the studied area there are several parameters of health and aesthetic concern. Elevated lead levels were detected both in aquifers and in surface waters, confirming that further investigations of the occurrence of lead contamination in the Logone valley are warranted. In addition, many groundwater sources are negatively impacted by parameters of aesthetic concern, such as turbidity, iron and manganese. Even though they do not affect human health, elevated levels of these parameters cause consumers to abandon improved water supplies, often in favour of surface water sources that are microbiologically contaminated. The use of alternative sources, improvement of water supply structures and water treatment are possible solutions to improve the quality of drinking water in the Logone valley.