Contamination of groundwater sources in emerging African towns: the case of Babati town, Tanzania

This paper describes the assessment of groundwater contamination potential in Babati, Manyara, Tanzania. It was conducted by Pantaleo et al. (2018) and published in Water Practice and Technology. Fecal coliforms (FC) and high NO3 concentrations were present in wells less than 30 m deep. The maximum FC level was 280 CFU/100 ml, and the nitrate (NO3) ranged from 1.1 to 357.7 mg-NO3/l. In boreholes, nitrate concentrations ranged from 2.3 to 32.6 mg-NO3/l, below both national and WHO standards, and were all free of fecal coliform. Other parameters were all within recommended limits for all wells tested. Findings showed that most shallow wells (64%) are polluted and could cause health problems for users; it is therefore important that the community avoids relying on shallow wells. Boiling of domestic water before use is also recommended.