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Groundwater quality on dairy farms in central South Africa

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dc.contributor.author Esterhuizen, Leana
dc.contributor.author Fossey, Annabel
dc.contributor.author Potgieter, Elsa
dc.date.accessioned 2018-08-20T12:46:54Z
dc.date.available 2018-08-20T12:46:54Z
dc.date.issued 2015
dc.identifier.issn 0378-4738
dc.identifier.issn 1816-7950
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/11462/1549
dc.description Published Article en_US
dc.description.abstract Dairy farms in central South Africa depend mostly on groundwater for domestic needs and dairy activities. Groundwater samples were collected from 37 dairy farms during 2009 and 2013. Sixteen water quality parameters were tested and compared to the standard. Four parameters in 2009 and six in 2013 exhibited 100% compliance with the standard. Nitrate, Escherichia coli and total coliforms showed relatively low compliance across farms and years. Almost all farms were noncompliant for hardness in both sampling years. T-tests revealed significant changes from 2009 to 2013 for pH (t = 2.580; p = 0.006), hardness (t = 2.197; p = 0.016) and potassium (K) (t = 1.699; p = 0.0468). For hardness, approximately 45% of the farms in 2009, and 57% in 2013, posed a health risk to sensitive consumers. More than 50% of the farms in both years demonstrated levels of nitrates that could pose a health risk, particularly for babies. High levels of coliforms and E. coli were found, indicating a health risk for clinical infections in consumers. The number of farms presenting 3 or more parameters with a health risk more than doubled from 13.5% in 2009 to 27.0% in 2013. en_US
dc.format.extent 271 325 bytes, 1 file
dc.format.mimetype Application/PDF
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.publisher Water S.A. en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries Volume 41;Number 2
dc.subject Water quality en_US
dc.subject groundwater en_US
dc.subject E. coli en_US
dc.subject coliforms en_US
dc.subject nitrate en_US
dc.subject hardness en_US
dc.subject dairy farms en_US
dc.title Groundwater quality on dairy farms in central South Africa en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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