Physicochemical quality of water produced at Kwanyaku water treatment plant in the Agona District of the Central Region of Ghana

It is essential to test water before it is used for drinking, domestic, agricultural or industrial purpose. Water must be tested for different physico-chemical parameters. Selection of parameters for testing of water quality solely depends on the purpose for which the water is to be used and the extent of its quality and purity needed. Some physical tests should be performed to test of its physical appearance such as temperature, colour, odour, pH, turbidity and conductivity while chemical tests should be performed for its alkalinity, hardness and residual chlorine. The study was conducted to assess the physicochemical quality of water produced at the Kwanyako Water Treatment Plant in the Central Region of Ghana. Triplicate water samples were collected in sterile 500ml polypropylene bottles, from Raw, Settled, Filtered and Final water and examined for the physico-chemical parameters mentioned above, using the World Health Organsation (WHO) approved methods of analysis. The study was carried out for a period of 6 months (September 2013 to February 2014). The values recorded for all the physico-chemical parameters were within the WHO acceptable limit except for the colour and turbidity of the raw water. This implied that the water produced at the treatment plant is efficiently treated with regards to the physicochemical parameters.