Uranium natural levels in soil, rock and water: assessment of the quality of drinking water in Singida Urban District, Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract An analytical study was carried out to determine the level of uranium in the soil and rock and associate it with the levels in surface and underground water, which are the main sources of drinking water in Singida Urban District, Tanzania. Fifteen water samples, 12 soil samples and nine rock samples were collected in Singida Urban District in February 2016. Water samples were analysed by the Government Chemist Laboratory Agency using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) (2007) and analyses for soil and rock samples were carried out through total X-ray fluorescence (XL3 ANALYSER) at Sokoine University of Agriculture in the Department of Soil and Geological Sciences. Uranium levels in the soils and rocks samples found ranged from 3.744 to 8.754 mg kg−1, SE ± 0.849 and P-value <0.001 for soil and 20.01–31.57 mg kg−1, SE ± 2.474 and P-value 0.077 for rocks respectively. The levels in soil and rock influences the levels in surface and underground water which were between 0.087 and 1.097 mg L−1 for surface water and <0.01–0.46 mg L−1 for underground water, respectively. Singida Urban District has higher uranium levels in the soil and rock with a consequence of high levels in drinking water sources.