TITLE:
Assessment of Surface Water Quality of Bétaré-Oya Gold Mining Area (East-Cameroon)
AUTHORS:
Felaniaina Rakotondrabe, Jules Remy Ndam Ngoupayou, Zakari Mfonka, Eddy Harilala Rasolomanana, Alexis Jacob Nyangono Abolo, Banakeng Lucian Asone, Andrew Ako Ako, Miora Harivony Rakotondrabe
KEYWORDS:
Bétare-Oya in East Cameroon, Hydrochemistry, Gold Mining, Water Quality Index, Heavy Metal Pollution Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.9 No.8,
July
7,
2017
ABSTRACT: To assess the water quality in the locality of Bétaré-Oya affected by an intensive
artisanal and semi mechanized mining activities, 71 samples were collected
from sixteen points during the 2015-2016 hydrological year. These
points include: three in Lom river which is the main stream of the study area,
five in Mari river which is one of the left bank tributaries of the Lom, in
Bétaré-Oya and eight in the left and the right bank of Mari. Different physicochemical
parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), alkalinity,
turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), cyanide (CN-), major elements and
heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu, As, Mn and Cr) were analyzed. Water Quality
Indices (WQI), Heavy metal Pollution Index (HPI), sodium adsorption ratio
(SAR) and percent sodium (Na%) were also computed to evaluate the suitability
of water for drinking and irrigation. The results showed that the surface
water from Bétaré-Oya was acidic to basic (5.40