Groundwater Constituents and Trace Elements in the Basement Aquifers of Africa and Sedimentary Aquifers of Asia: Medical Hydrogeology of Drinking Water Minerals and Toxicants

Abstract The use of groundwater, a major source of potable water, in developing countries has proven to be an invaluable resource for local populations. The ability to safely use this water for drinking, however, depends on its chemical quality, a factor primarily controlled by various aquifer attributes such as geology and geochemistry. On a global scale, groundwater is primarily sourced from either sedimentary or basement aquifers. In this study, we compared the groundwater constituents and trace elements found in these two types of aquifer system in the context of medical hydrogeology, i.e. the status of groundwater mineral nutrients and pollutants, and their complex interaction in relation to human health. The evaluation work used a collated geochemical dataset developed for Bangladesh…