The impact of handpump corrosion on water quality in rural areas of West African sub-region.

Water, even in its natural environment, contains some level of impurities. Water is nearly a universal solvent. It contains dissolved solids and gases, and hosts a number of micro-organisms. The exploitation of groundwater by means of boreholes for supplying small user groups and rural communities with water has been widely applied in certain parts of the world for several decades. In recent years this practice has spread all over the globe, and hundred of thousands of boreholes have been drilled to tap low-yield aquifers. It is evident that such boreholes require pumps for lifting the water. In developing countries these are usually handpumps, but solar as well as other systems with submersible pumps are also used, depending upon the energy sources available and the financial means of the beneficiaries. This article gives a general overview of groundwater quality with regard to its physico-chemical composition. The results presented originate from the experience gained from handpump equipped boreholes within the UNICEF through German Centre for Technical Education Transfer executed inter-regional UNDP-Handpumps Project in West African Regions. Particular attention is paid to presenting corrosion on the water quality of wells in terms of iron concentration and other parameters. Furthermore, the corrosion attack on galvanised iron, the effect of biofilms on the corrosion rate, and the difference between internal and external corrosion of rising mains are shown.