Assessment of the Effects of Human Settlements on Quality of Ground Water Sources in Lamu Island, Kenya

Abstract

Fresh water is a naturally occurring resource that is found in wells, springs and underground. Its quality is of paramount importance to its domestic and agricultural related activities. The population of Lamu Island in Kenya, has settled and developed along the sand dunes which are the sources of freshwater.The activities they engage has affected the fresh water quality and quantity. Ten (10) water samples from the 34 shallow wells aquifers were analysed for physical, chemical and biological from the southern and northern zone respectively. The analysis results showed that the wells found in the Southern zone of aquifer were more contaminated than the Northern zone wells, based on the descriptive and experimental designs used. Comparatively the Electrical conductivity of the Southern zone wells were significantly higher than the Northern zone wells at 95% Confidence Interval. The demand for fresh water is higher than the supply thereby forcing the authorities to impose water rationing. The study recommends that the Lamu County government develop policies that ensures the sources of fresh water are protected and human settlements are far off from the fresh water aquifer