[01] Bernice Wadei, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. [02] Divine Odame Appiah, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

One of the serious costs associated with development in recent times is water pollution. This is so because globally, humanity is approaching its carrying capacity, by enlarging its consumption footprints. These undoubtedly, have had dire consequences including death of many people, through cancers and other life threatening diseases. The Ghanaian situation does not depart from the pollution status quo, especially in the mining sector. Using preponderantly secondary information from peer-reviewed articles and institutional documents, this paper examined the incidence of water pollution and its implication for human health in mining communities in Ghana. The challenge of non-compliance and enforcement of environmental laws has given leeway to the populace and industries to operate, to a larger degree, with careless abandon. With the mining industry as a case study, the plight of the vulnerable rural people as regard water pollution is revealed. Their only source of drinking water and sometimes livelihood is the water bodies that are mostly polluted in the mining process. The government of Ghana and the Environmental Protection Agency are therefore called upon to balance the benefits from the mining industry and the safety of the water bodies of mining communities.

Land Use Activities, Water Resources, Mining, Non-compliance

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