EVALUATION OF SUSTAINABLE USE OF UNDERGROUND WATER IN PERI-URBAN CENTERS’ OF ELDORET MUNICIPALITY IN

Water should be safe for human consumption, according to Kenya's national water quality guideline. Ground water can easily be contaminated with a variety of pollutants, including biological harmful microbes, if it is not protected. Waterborne infections can be effectively controlled by following proper sanitary procedures, which result in the use of good quality water. The study's major goal was to compare levels of groundwater contamination in three peri-urban centres in Eldoret Municipality: Langas, Munyaka, and Huruma, using levels of coliforms and solids in subterranean fluids as indicators of point source pollution as they changed during the dry and wet seasons. Six test sampling points were chosen at random per peri-urban region, and two water wells located above 31 metres from waste dumpsites and pit latrines were purposefully chosen as control samples from the three zones. During the dry season (January and March 2015), 40 samples were taken in duplicate, and another 40 samples were obtained in duplicate during the wet season (April and May 2015). (April and May 2015). Total coliforms cultured at 352°C for 24 hours were counted using the standard plate count method. The total solids were calculated using an evaporation procedure in which the total solid material was collected and gravimetrically assessed. Each water well's mean total solids (TS) was below the allowed level of 1.2 g/L. The TS, on the other hand, changed according to the dry and rainy seasons. The link between variables in relation to seasons was investigated using means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation analysis. The collected data was analysed using JMP statistical software at a significance level of 0.05. Coliform levels in water wells were higher than the Nil/100 mL National Water Quality Standards. The link between the variables under investigation was tested using Pearson's correlation. The distance from the pit latrine and garbage dumpsites had a favourable influence on the levels of Escherichia coli in well waters (r=-0.165, p=0.007) and (r=-0.246, p=0.024), respectively. Between the test and control samples, there were no significant differences (ANOVA: F3, 39=0.2249; p0.8487). During the dry season, the test samples' total dissolved solids (TDS) levels did not change significantly from the control sample (ANOVA: F3, 39=0.7601; p=0.5239). According to the findings, topography has a significant impact on the closeness of water wells to pit latrines and waste dumpsites in the research locations, affecting the amount of coliforms in ground water. This study suggests that conventional communal water wells be built and used, that the 30-meter distance between water wells and other water abstraction points and pollution sources be reviewed, and that ground water quality be monitored on a regular basis.

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