Student Research Reports

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The aim of our project was to understand the factors that contribute to the quality of water in Mombasa County and if they are fit for human consumption. We also set out to investigate the state of our water bodies regarding quality as our study sites play a crucial role in human consumption in Mombasa County. We first collected water samples from four different water sources, River Kombeni, River Sabaki, Likoni Ferry Channel, and the Indian Ocean. We tested for various parameters such as pH, turbidity, calcium hardness, total hardness, conductivity, and microbial cultures. These tests were carried out at the Coast Water Works Development Agency Laboratory of Mombasa and Pwani University Biosciences Laboratory. We compared the results of the chemical analysis with the standards of water quality of Coast Water Works Development Agency which tested and produced water suitable for human consumption. We discovered that River Kombeni had almost all parameters in accordance with the water quality standard except for turbidity where it recorded the highest and high amounts of microorganisms. We also discovered River Sabaki had the highest calcium hardness and most diverse microbial colonies; however, the Indian Ocean had the highest total hardness, conductivity, alkalinity, and largest amount of microorganisms present. The Likoni Ferry Channel water was consistent with the Indian Ocean water in total hardness but differed in calcium hardness. Likoni Ferry Channel also had the highest pH and highest chloride content. We concluded that all the water sources we studied were not fit for human consumption. We discussed the causes of the results and therefore concluded that the main factors affecting water quality include agriculture, sewage dumping, industrial waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.