Soil and water pollution studies from a waste site deposit in Bantama, Kumasi, Ghana using magnetic susceptibility measurements

Abstract

The magnetic susceptibility of soil and water samples from around the Uadara barracks waste site deposit in Bantama, a suburb of Kumasi was measured with the aim of investigating the potential threat of pollution to the soil, streams, fish ponds and other water sources at the site around the Armed Forces Senior High School campus which shares the same premises with the barracks. The studied soil samples were picked from the near surface (~ 10 cm depth) along pro-files taken from the waste site towards the stream and the ponds. Again, water samples were picked along the stream and from ten (10) ponds aligned along the stream. Laboratory measure-ments of the magnetic susceptibility were done using the Bartington MS2 metre and the MS2B dual frequency sensor for the soil samples, and the MS2G sensor for the water samples. The soil samples from the site registered an average magnetic susceptibility of 180.04 x 10-5 SI whereas the water samples recorded an average of –2.3 x 10-6SI showing a significant increment in com-parison with the standard water magnetic susceptibility of –9.04 x 10-6 SI. Thus, notwithstanding the lithology of the area studied, the presence of heavy metals and other chemical waste materi-als form the Uadara barracks garbage deposit site were found to greatly pollute the soil and par-ticularly the water bodies around the Armed Forces Senior High School.