Experimental Analysis of Water Quality Across the AppliedResearch Project on Water Treatment System for Harvesting,Treatment, and Recycling of Surface Runoff in Baringo NationalPolytechnic, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

The research study presents an experimental assessment of water quality through applied research, which aims to develop a sustainable water treatment system for Baringo National Polytechnic. The project aims to enhance water security by establishing a safe drinking water bottling facility in a region experiencing severe water shortages. The water system collected samples from four main sources, which included pan water and rainwater, tank water 1 and 2 sources, which showed different water collection and storage stages. The analysis of samples in the laboratory evaluated their physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics using standard methods in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) testing guidelines. The study showed that turbidity levels reached 13 to 58 NTU, which surpassed the WHO guideline limit of 5 NTU in all tested samples. The study found that all chemical tests showed results which met acceptable standards except for pH, which ranged from 7.3 to 8.9, and total dissolved solids, which measured 42 to 86 mg/L, and conductivity, which showed 59 to 123 µS/cm and chloride, which tested 2.5 to 4.0 mg/L and phosphate, which registered 0.05 to 0.13 mg/L. Microbiological analysis revealed severe contamination because total coliforms exceeded counting limits in all samples, and faecal coliform reached 1 to 150 CFU/100 mL. The study used one-way ANOVA to determine that different water sources produced distinct faecal coliform concentration results (F = 9.47, p = 0.012). The correlation analysis showed strong relationships between water quality parameters, while total dissolved solids and conductivity showed particular connections. The research demonstrates that the system needs effective multistage treatment, which requires filtration and ultraviolet disinfection methods. The results demonstrate that multiple treatment stages require the implementation of filtration and ultraviolet disinfection to achieve drinking and bottling standards for water quality. The safe and sustainable water supply requires continuous monitoring together with better sanitation methods.