Assessment of Amakera spring water quality: A case study of Musanze district, Rwanda

Water covers over 70% of the earth'ssurface and is the utmost valuable natural resource that exists on the earth [1,2]. Its world distribution indicates that only 2.5% and 97.5% constitute freshwater and saline water respectively [2]. Freshwater is indispensable in various domains of human daily life [3], moreover, it is generally seen as an essential input to human production and an effective tool of economic improvement [4]. Regrettably, in many countries around the world, including Rwanda, some drinking water supplies have become contaminated mainly due to both anthropogenic activities and natural processes [5,6] and the deteriorated quality of ground and surface waters is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the earth [1]. Water pollution from various types of contaminants is not only a serious environmental issue but also an economic and human health problem [7]. Many scientific techniques and tools have been developed to evaluate water contaminants [9,10,11]. These techniques include the analysis of different parameters such as pH, turbidity, conductivity, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total organic carbon (TOC), heavy metals, and microbes. These parameters can affect the drinking water quality if their values are in higher concentrations than the safe limits set by the East African Community and other regulatory bodies [8,11].

Freshwater sources in Rwanda exist as lakes, rivers, natural springs, and groundwater. The water supply for drinking purposes comes mainly from natural springs and underground water sources [18]. In this study, 3 water sources of Amakera Water namely Cyabararika, Rubindi and Kigombe were assessed. All these spring sources are located in Musanze District of Northern province of Rwanda. Cyabararika Cold Spring (site 1) takes its source from underground aquifers and was protected by the construction of delimitation walls many years ago to maintain its special quality, different from other surrounding water, unfortunately, they were damaged. This spring does not flow but instead, it is bubbling up from between two old constructed walls due to gases from underground [19]. The spring is surrounded by a small wetland alongside the Mpenge River and it is used for different human activities. Whereas, Rubindi Cold Spring (site 2) collects its water from three small springs which take their sources from Karisimbi volcano and meet to form a large spring. The water quality of Rubindi spring depends on the surrounding environment and human activities around the spring. The spring is surrounded by cultivated land and it flows between residences of people around there. Discharge from agricultural and residential areas may change the natural quality of the spring. Site 3, Kigombe water spring is also located in Musanze city, near horizon Sopyrwa factory. For all these springs, a large number of local populations fetch the water for drinking purposes. Many people like the taste of this water which is like “carbonated water” without being aware if it meets the drinking water standard, subsequently, its quality investigations come into prominence for its usability [10,19]. This study aimed at analyzing the Physico-chemical and Bacteriological parameters to check its potable perspective in comparison with the international standard of drinking water.