oa Nitrate Contamination in Drinking Water from Farming Activities in Rural Communities in the NSAWAM District, Ghana: Environmental Geoscience, Education and Civic Engagement

The main source of water for drinking and domestic needs for inhabitants (mostly farmers) in the Nsawam District, Ghana is groundwater. However, these fractured groundwater reservoirs in this district pose to be vulnerable to nitrate contamination, and have been of growing environmental and health concern in recent times. Water samples collected from several groundwater wells in the study area indicate high nitrate concentration levels that significantly exceed the permissible limits for human consumption set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Azimuthal resistivity surveys (ARS) were conducted on exposed rocks with mapped fracture parameters in the vicinity of the seven wells where anisotropic coefficient, real and imaginary parts of the conductivity were measured. the specific surface area unexposed subsurface fractures were estimated using the regression model and the fracture porosity was estimated from the anisotropic coefficient. Fracture parameters, fracture porosity, specific surface area correlated with nitrate concentration. the results serve to establish the role of fractures in groundwater contamination by nitrates in the study area. in the summer of 2008, a group of students from Duke University from different majors (engineering, chemistry, biology, geology and global health), visited the study area to applying their knowledge gained in the classroom to address such societal problems with the intent of making a difference in the world. the students educated the inhabitants on potential health dangers regarding environmental pollution by direct interaction with locals, chiefs, school children and political representatives.