The Dangerous Couple: Illegal Mining and Water Pollution—A Case Study in Fena River in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Table 2

Water quality parameter of Fena River.

Parameter	Fen 1			Fen 2			WHO standard
	Mean and std	Max	Min	Mean and std	Max	Min
pH	6.17 ± 0.27	6.63	5.82	5.81 ± 0.41	6.33	5.21	6.5–9
Temp.	23.58 ± 0.17	23.85	23.31	23.45 ± 0.17	23.73	23.08	25–30°C
Turb.	182.25 ± 20.49	213	148	194.33 ± 16.34	231	169	75 NTU
TSS	2415.67 ± 440.1	3314	2560	2971.67±	3354	2830	500 mg/L
TDS	3165.33 ± 207.83	3314	2560	3180.50 ± 142.11	3334	2730	500 mg/L
Conductivity	1236.75 ± 59.38	1311	1103	1268 ± 19.44	1300	1238	1000 mg/L
Pb	0.192 ± 0.23	0.81	BDL	0.72 ± 0.29	1.04	0.23	0.01 mg/L
Cd	0.14 ± 0.19	0.7	BDL	0.02 ± 0.01	0.04	0.01	0.003 mg/L
Cu	0.09 ± 0.03	0.14	0.03	0.09 ± 0.06	0.24	0.01	2 mg/L
Fe	12.94 ± 1.57	16.43	11.03	13.01 ± 0.71	14.09	11.63	2 mg/L
Zn	0.81 ± 0.14	0.91	0.46	0.84 ± 0.09	1.02	0.71	5 mg/L
	Point A			Point B
pH	6.38 ± 0.19	6.7	6.12	5.44 ± 0.23	5.88	5.11	6.5–9
Temp.	24.11 ± 0.22	24.5	23.87	23.67 ± 0.08	23.76	23.47	25–30°C
Turb.	133.08 ± 19.93	160	103	372.42 ± 59.71	445	262	75°NTU
TSS	116.42 ± 9.36	2125	1002	659.58 ± 67.58	3411	3011	500 mg/L
TDS	1511.67 ± 382.42	2132	985	3160.25 ± 119.21	3411	3011	500 mg/L
Conductivity	144.58 ± 19.37	184	122	252.5 ± 23.57	283	206	1000 mg/L
Pb	BDL	BDL	BDL	0.05 ± 0.02	0.10	0.02	0.01 mg/L
Cd	0.01 ± 0.00	0.01	0.01	0.07 ± 0.07	0.21	0.01	0.003 mg/L
Cu	0.04 ± 0.04	0.12	0.01	0.03 ± 0.01	0.05	0.01	2°mg/L
Fe	4.81 ± 0.25	5.21	4.48	6.45 ± 0.77	7.34	5.03	2°mg/L
Zn	0.62 ± 0.07	0.75	0.52	1.11 ± 0.36	1.76	0.56	5°mg/L
	Point C			Fen 3
pH	5.30 ± 0.17	5.65	5.09	6.07 ± 0.21	6.43	5.76	6.5–9
Temp.	23.69 ± 0.16	23.94	23.38	23.61 ± 0.19	23.84	23.27	25–30°C
Turb.	162.33 ± 19.11	181	122	309.58 ± 44.49	364	180	75 NTU
TSS	132 ± 42.22	3312	3006	1930.58 ± 521.36	2925	1022	500 mg/L
TDS	3130.25 ± 79.52	3312	3006	3284.08 ± 234.02	3701	3011	500 mg/L
Conductivity	196.5 ± 9.76	211	182	333.75 ± 27.70	373	297	1000 mg/L
Pb	BDL	BDL	BDL	0.11 ± 0.02	0.13	0.08	0.01 mg/L
Cd	0.12 ± 0.03	0.17	0.08	0.05 ± 0.01	0.06	0.04	0.003 mg/L
Cu	BDL	0.01	BDL	0.06 ± 0.02	0.11	0.04	2 mg/L
Fe	0.38 ± 0.12	0.57	0.17	11.3 ± 0.41	12.07	10.98	2 mg/L
Zn	0.86 ± 0.11	1.05	0.67	0.62 ± 0.11	0.82	0.46	5 mg/L

Fen 1 = Fenaso number 1; Fen 2 = Fenaso number 2; Fen 3 = Fenaso number 3; TDS = total dissolved solids; TSS = total suspended solids; Temp. = temperature; Turb. = turbidity; and BDL = below detection limit (0.001 ppm).