Suitability of Solar Disinfection as Water Treatment Option in Mion District, Northern Ghana

Access to safe drinking water especially in rural Ghana has remained a challenge for decades with attendant health implications. Hence, this paper assessed the suitability of solar disinfection of water (SODIS) treatment option in Mion District, Northern Ghana using standard methods to analyze the physicochemical and microbial parameters of raw water from Sang Dam. According to the findings, 49% of households depended on river or dam water for drinking. More than 60% of households reported regular water shortages. Only 47.9% treated water before drinking; the most common treatment methods being boiling and filtering. Sanitation in the study area was poor, with most households lacking toilets and over 60% practicing open defecation, increasing the risk of fecal contamination of water sources. Water quality testing showed that water from the Sang Dam did not meet the WHO Standards for microbial safety and some physicochemical parameters. Turbidity, total and fecal coliforms levels of 1310 NTU,153 cfu/100 ml and 55 cfu/100 ml respectively were recorded, far above the permissible limits. The SODIS experiment established that when exposed to sufficient sunlight, microbes were effectively eliminated in transparent and light-colored plastic containers (TPB and CPB), with fecal coliforms initially at 30 cfu/100 ml (32.0°C) declining after 8 hours to <1 in TPB (43.3°C) and CPB (45.8°C), confirming them as the most effective containers. The study recommends raising community awareness about sanitation and adoption of SODIS, while entreating the District Assembly to support SDG 6 by providing safe, transparent containers for household use.