摘要
The research centered on the groundwater quality parameters in five boreholes and three wells in residential urban areas of Zimbabwe. Ten runs of chemical analysis for water pH, EC （electrical conductivity）, water hardness were carried out weekly and averages were calculated for each at Bindura University laboratory. Iron concentrations analysis was done at the Tobacco Research Station. The results from boreholes and wells were compared to the WHO （World Health Organisation） drinking water acceptable standards to measure the deviations. It was found that the boreholes had hard waters （112 mg/L）, EC （425 s/m） and iron concentration （0.49 ppm） outside the WHO standards （〉 64 mg/L; 400 s/m; 0.3 ppm respectively）. In contrary the wells had only the water pH slightly outside the acceptable ranges （5.8）; other parameters were in the acceptable ranges （EC 379 s/m; water hardness 0.38 mg/L as CaCO3 and iron concentration 0.38 ppm）. The difference in chemical composition between the boreholes and wells caused the borehole water rejection in favor of well water. High iron concentrations and water hardness in boreholes were major contributors to the water rejection by the residents.
