title: The hydrochemistry of groundwater in the Densu River Basin, Ghana.
abstract: Hydrochemical analyses of groundwater samples were used to establish the hydrochemistry of groundwater in the Densu River Basin. The groundwater was weakly acidic, moderately mineralized, fresh to brackish with conductivity ranging from of 96.6 microS cm(-1) in the North to 10,070 microS cm( - 1) in the South. Densu River basin have special economic significance, representing the countries greatest hydrostructure with freshwater. Chemical constituents are generally low in the North and high in the South. The order of relative abundance of major cations in the groundwater is Na+>Ca2+>Mg2+>K+ while that of anions is Cl->HCO3->SO4(2-)>NO3-. Four main chemical water types were delineated in the Basin. These include Ca-Mg-HCO3, Mg-Ca-Cl, Na-Cl, and mixed waters in which neither a particular cation nor anion dominates. Silicate weathering and ion exchange are probably the main processes through which major ions enter the groundwater system. Anthropogenic activities were found to have greatly impacted negatively on the quality of the groundwater.
authors.affiliation: Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, Ghana. jrfianko@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Joseph Richmond
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fianko
authors.forename: Dickson
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adomako
authors.forename: Shiloh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Osae
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganyaglo
authors.forename: Benony K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Kortatsi
authors.forename: Collins K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tay
authors.forename: Eric T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Glover
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005869:Ghana; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*; D014872:Water Movements
chemical_list: D014867:Water