Geogenic fluoride contamination of groundwater causes the health condition
fluorosis and is a global water degredation issue affecting an estimated 200 million
people. It has been identified as a priority chemical contaminant of concern by the
United Nations and will be a focus in many fluoride-vulnerable developing countries
towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) related to water quality. Predicting
groundwater vulnerability to geogenic fluoride will be key to sustainably managing
groundwater assets for SDG 6, however some developing nations may not have the
resources or data available to develop a solution. Malawi has only sparse knowledge of
issues with fluoride and fluorosis and it does not have access to comprehensive national
groundwater fluoride data which is a hinderance to the development of a complex risk
model. This thesis sought to fill the knowledge gap with a national data collation and a
synthesis of geological, hydrogeological and hydro-geochemical analyses of fluoride
occurrence, to develop an innovative prediction method to screen for groundwater
fluoride contamination which can be applied nationally. National groundwater fluoride
occurrence was documented for the first time in Malawi providing a master data set of
groundwater fluoride spanning 50 years. Fluoride was found to occur from two distinct
source types (lithological, hydrothermal), each of which was designated a fluoride risk
factor using fluoride-lithology statistics from existing data and extrapolating where
data were absent. The method was developed to be dynamic with prediction accuracy
increasing as new data is acquired, and can be easily applied at any scale in any country
for little expense. The prediction method developed will allow the Government of
Malawi to manage its groundwater infrastructure assets for fluoride contamination in
a targeted manner, boost their attainment potential for SDG 6, redefine their
groundwater policy to include geogenic fluoride contamination and bring their
groundwater fluoride standard in line with observed health risks.
Date of Award | 1 Jun 2021 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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Sponsors | University of Strathclyde |
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Supervisor | Robert Kalin (Supervisor) & Joanna Renshaw (Supervisor) |
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