Story by: Krobea Asante
During
our visit on Tuesday June 5 to Tsledom, a farming community in Lower
Manya Krobo, the team run pH test with rain water, bore - hole water,
and the only well in the community but found it to be acidic between 4.0
and 5.0.
A
research fellow and and quality health partner, Francis Pinoko who led
the demonstration disclosed that, drinking water with low pH end of the
scale, thus pH values below 4 also cause irritation due to the corrosive
effects of low pH levels. He added, similarly drinking water with an
elevated pH can cause skin, eye and mucous membrane irritation.
He
said, according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, pH is a
secondary drinking water standard, hence recommends a pH between 6.5 and
8.5 for drinking. 'World Health Organization says, health effects are
most pronounced in pH extremes' he added.
Mr.
Francis Pinoko, who is also a safe water advocate said, acidic water
can cause serious problems through the leaching of heavy metals from
plumbing systems and faucets. He mentioned that, the New York State
Department has declared that, lead exposure can lead to to a host of
neurlogical and reproductive problems such as seizures, hearing loss and
miscarriages.
Leaching
of heavy metals causes a domino effect that can impact the
gastointestinal system. Exposure to zinc from corroded pipes or iron
sheets can cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
Many
residents disclosed that, the pH test for water was never known to them
therefore they considered any colorless water to be safe for drinking,
Mr. Frederick Nortey, a teacher in the community was thankful for the
education, 'this is in the syllabus for students' but how do we make it
practical when there are no resources, for me i am happy the parents are
knowing it too', he said.
Touching
on causes of acidity in water, he said there are several external
forces that causes the fluctuations or extremes in pH, he mentioned
chemical spraying on part of farmers, bedrock degradation, acid rain,
wastewater discharge and carbon dioxide.
The
impact on surface water is significant because more than 60 percent of
the public water supply comes from surface water sources, according to a
U.S Geological Survey.
Therefore
if fish are dying off due to low pH, it also increases the possibility
of other toxic effects caused by high ammonia levels, disease-causing
bacteria and parasites.
To
raise pH of the water in the area, Mr. Pinoko said that, one of the
most convenient methods is to use calcite, which is a crushed and
screened white marble media which can inexpensively be used to
neutralize acidic or low pH waters to neutral, less corrosive effluent.
A calcite filter will typically raise the pH of the water to around 7.0 and add 1-3 grains of hardness (30 to 50 ppm).
Dade
Mantse Atteh, chief of Tsledom opined that, they have been unaware of
the subject of acidic water and therefore plead that, more visits and
education is carried out to create more awareness, 'who knows how many
are dead because of poisonous water intake', he added.
He
called on the LMKM chief executive, Mr. Simon Tetteh to help in
connecting pipe-borne water to the community, this will save us from
drinking low pH water in our area.
Source: www.drinksafewaterghana.org
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