Abstract

Human activities such as agriculture, construction of houses and automobile workshops and natural processes alter the properties of soils and water which affect the health of plants, animals and humans. This work was therefore, aimed at investigating some physicochemical properties of soils and some water sources on the Western Flank of Mount Cameroon with altitude and selected natural and/or anthropogenic activities. Soils and water were sampled in February 2010 and analysed for their physicochemical properties using standard methods. The results of the soil analysis showed that all the soils in the region were acidic. Most of the physicochemical properties of the water analysed were within acceptable limits of WHO. The water sources between Tiko and Wonya-Mavio, Buea had higher nitrate. There were significant positive relationships (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) between nitrogen and altitude and carbon and altitude, respectively. Magnesium and ECEC showed a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) with altitude while calcium showed a highly significant negative correlation with altitude. Natural sources of pollution identified are weathering, erosion and sea water intrusions. The anthropogenic ones include wastes from homes, laundry, fertilizers and factories. Stringent soil and water management scheme or legislature is recommended.

Key words: Soils, physicochemical properties, Mount Cameroon, pollution, water, human activities, fertilizers.