Iwarere, Samuel Ayodele2025-07-182025-07-182025-092025-04*S2025http://hdl.handle.net/2263/103473Dissertation (MSc (Chemical Technology))--University of Pretoria, 2025.Water sources in rural areas are mostly contaminated by different pollutants such as pathogens, heavy metals, and chemicals. The communities of Matsa, Mamvuka, and Manyii have been without a municipal treated water source. Therefore, they depend on spring water to meet their basic water demand. This study addresses the water quality issues associated with the consumption of contaminated water in these villages due to the lack of existing research assessing the water quality of the spring water utilised. The study evaluated the physicochemical and microbiological quality of groundwater in Matsa, Mamvuka, and Manyii villages, Limpopo Province, South Africa. A water quality assessment was carried out on 48 samples, and the method of interviews using a questionnaire was used to determine the communities' practices of water collection and storage. The questionnaire was distributed to 15 households in the Matsa, Mamvuka, and Manyii villages, with 5 people from each village being interviewed, and adults over 18 years were randomly selected for an interview questionnaire. The physicochemical parameters were measured using the 7-in-1 water quality meter (Hanna Instruments), and turbidity was measured using the turbidimeter (Thermo Scientific Eutech TN 100). Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Discrete Analyser were used to analyse heavy metals and anions, whereas the membrane filtration method was used for microbial analysis. Various water treatment methods, including chlorine tablets, boiling, plasma technology, ceramic filters, and bleach, were applied to determine the most effective water treatment for the three villages. Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) was used to test the ecological risks posed by the various water treatment methods on the environment. Statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel to test the significance of the influence of seasons on physicochemical, heavy metal, and anion parameters, as well as treatment methods. PCA and Box and Whisker were used to describe the distributions of metals and ions across the sampling sites. Most of the physicochemical parameters’ concentrations in drinking water samples were within the regulatory standards limits of South African National Standards 241 and the World Health Organisation, except for S10 (Manyii spring), which exceeded the ≤ 5 as it recorded 10.75 and 51.5 NTU for the dry and wet seasons. Some heavy metals, such as Fe and Al, exceeded the SANS regulations in both seasons. For the dry season, Fe was above the limit at S3 (2.03 mg/L), while Al exceeded at S2 (0.34mg/L). In the wet season, these metals exceeded the limits at S3 (4.3mg/L) and S10 (2.095 mg/L) for Fe. Meanwhile, Al exceeded at points S6 to S12 with concentrations of 0.315, 0.785, 0.415, 0.855, 0.345, and 0.45 mg/L, respectively. According to SANS 241, these metals should not exceed the values of 2 and 0.3 for Fe and Al, respectively. Moreover, As (0.046 mg/L at S2, and 0.027 mg/L at S12 during the dry season,) Mn (0.15 mg/L and 0.31 mg/L at S7 during both seasons), and Ni (0.102 mg/L at S6 during the dry season) exceeded the SANS 241 values of ≤0.01,0.1, and 0.07 mg/L, respectively. Average highest E. coli detected from Matsa (1312.5 CFU/ 100 mL), Mamvuka S1(330 CFU/ 100 mL), Mamvuka S2 (1327.5 CFU/ 100 mL) and Manyii (2340 CFU/ 100 mL) during the wet season exceeded levels detected in the dry season (892.5, 340, 350 and 542.5 CFU/ 100m L) respectively; whereas, for Total coliform, the levels detected in the wet season did not have a specific trend as compared to the levels of E. coli. However, the average highest recorded level among all sampling points was found to be in S5 (9547.5 CFU/ 100 mL) for the dry season, and in S10 (13125 CFU/ 100 mL) for the wet season. Furthermore, the microbial results showed that 100% of the sampling points were contaminated with E. coli and Total coliforms. The water treatment methods employed showed no statistical difference from one another. It was therefore concluded that the water purification methods tested are all effective and can all treat water, as there is no statistical evidence that one method outperforms the other. However, toxicological results showed that bleach and Plasma may pose high risks to the environment and aquatic animals; therefore, the use of other methods (chloribe tables, ceramic filters, and boiling) is recommended to avoid contaminating the environment. The calculated sum Water Quality Index of the sampled water showed that the heavy metals play a role in contributing to low water quality in these communities. The dry and wet seasons WQI sum range within the poor water quality class (160.17 and 121.84). The carcinogenic effects using the Hazard Index (As) through ingestion and dermal pathways (4.80e+00 and 1.26e+00) and Carcinogenic Risk (As_2.16e-03 and 5.66e-04) and (Ni_ 2.08e-02 and 5.45e-03) for children and adults during the dry season showed that the usage of springwater could present significant health risks, as the indices were above the recommended value by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The questionnaire results showed that the residents from the three study areas lack access to potable water, as 46.68% of the respondents responded that they use spring water, whereas 26.66% buy from those with boreholes, and the other 26.66% depend on their private borehole. These communities have been without potable drinking water for over 10 years. Furthermore, during the summer season, most households practice harvesting rainwater in the study areas. Water in these communities is used for all domestic needs, and stored in covered drums or tanks, mostly for less than a week before another collection. Meanwhile, storage practices are good, but most of the residents are not aware of the associated health risks of consuming contaminated water, with only a few associating untreated water with illnesses such as cholera and diarrhea. Based on the results from the water quality analysis, as well as the questionnaire, this study recommends the need for municipalities to invest in providing potable drinking water for the study areas and suitable water treatment methods to treat water before consumption. This can be done through the provision of tankers, maintaining the available municipal pipes, and drilling boreholes. Residents from these communities should practice treating water before consumption to minimise health risks, and this can be done by using chlorine tablets, bleach, and boiling methods, as they can easily be employed in rural areas.en© 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDSustainable Development Goals (SDGs)ContaminantsGroundwaterHealth risksPollutantsWater sourcesDissertationu22027999https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.29598731