A GIS based tool for monitoring water contamination source in Masaka

Abstract

In Masaka city there is high population growth and industrialization, therefore a great amount of domestic and industrial effluents are discharged that lead to the pollution of Surface Water. The quality of this surface water was determined by taking samples from 8 spots of the wells within a study area. The locations of the wells were obtained using a CHC RTK GNSS receiver. The purposes of this investigation were to provide an overview of current surface-water quality, determine spatial distribution of surface-water quality parameters in the study area and hence use GIS tools identify anthropogenic hotspots for management of water. The Geostatistical analyst extension module of ArcGIS was used for exploratory data analysis, semivariogram model selection, cross-validation, and development of a distribution pattern of groundwater quality parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, Turbidity, Total suspended solids, hardness, Dissolved Oxygen and alkalinity. The IDW method was used to produce the spatial patterns of surface water quality over the study area. From analysis of the results it was noted that higher contaminant concentrations are clearly situated in the wetland situated between Katwe and Senyange Parishes. This is attributed to the presence of some small scale processing factories and high population density disposing off wastes into the neighboring wetlands.