TITLE:
A Survey of Arsenic Level in Tube-Wells in Bam Province (Burkina Faso)
AUTHORS:
Touridomon Issa Somé, Abdoul Karim Sakira, Alidou Kaboré, Aissata Traoré
KEYWORDS:
Arsenic, Groundwater, Contamination, Bam Province
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.14,
November
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Groundwater
is a main source of water supply for populations in Burkina Faso where there is
a serious problem for drinking water access. However, water quality has not
been always followed regularly. Recent studies showed that more than 50% of
drillings in Yatenga province (north of Burkina Faso) have an arsenic
concentration above the recommended WHO requirement. Preliminaries studies conducted
in Bam (Center North of Burkina Faso) showed high arsenic level in certain
localities. This work presents for the first time data on a large scale evaluation
that had been performed in all the localities of Bam province in other to have
a better assessment of contamination scale. A total of 707 drilling water
samples have been selected randomly in 9 communes and analysed for the arsenic
level using atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation. The results
showed that 11% of drillings have an arsenic concentration above the
recommended WHO requirements with Rouko commune having the highest rate of high arsenic level (22%).