by Olusegun O. Alabi, Adeolu Olabanji Ojo and Dolapo F. Akinpelu
Original Research
Geophysical investigation was carried out around the University Health Sciences of the Osun State University, Osogbo using the Schlumberger technique of the electrical resistivity method. The aim of the study was to evaluate the groundwater potential and to access how protected the aquifer in the area could be to surface pollutants. Four (4) vertical electric sounding (VES) data were acquired within the study area. The VES data acquired were interpreted using the WinResist iterative software. The result revealed KHA-type curve in VES 2, VES 3 and VES 4 with aquifer resistivity values of 97.6 Ωm, 20.7 Ωm and 142.2 Ωm respectively and HA-type in VES 1 with aquifer resistivity of 27.5 Ωm. The area under investigation consists of a lateritic topsoil of varying thicknesses which is underlain by a weathered layer and finally the fresh basement. VES 4 is would yield considerable amount of groundwater if developed to a depth of between 15 m to 20 m to take advantage of the basement fractures due to its thick aquiferous zone and the very low resistivity exhibited by the aquifer layer. The result also shows that the aquifers in VES 1 and VES 4 shows evidence of weak aquifer protective capacity having longitudinal conductance of 0.149 and 0.129 respectively with corresponding transverse resistance of 112.75 and 780.80. This suggests that the study area might show good potential for groundwater but the groundwater is not safe. For groundwater development, adequate measure should be made to establish water treatment facility.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2016, 4(6), 137-143. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-4-6-3
Pub. Date: December 28, 2016
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by Emmanuel Salifu and Shedrach Onum Enokela
Original Research
Rising water tables is one of the major problems affecting irrigation and agriculture in general, hence, regular investigation of the trend of groundwater fluctuation especially within 'fadama' lands is necessary to forestall incidences of flooding and salinization which are harmful to arable soils. Groundwater fluctuation was monitored between February and September, using chalk-dusted graduated steel tapes at five (5) piezometric locations in a small-scale fadama irrigation farm, in the Niger-Benue Confluence, Lokoja-Nigeria. It was observed that the mean monthly depth of water table fluctuates between 2.03m bgl and 0.022m agl in the period under review. Statistical analysis of data collected show that the trend of fluctuation obeys a third order hyperbolic function (with R2= 0.98). Findings imply that the land is critically waterlogged between February and September, with rainfall depth significantly affecting groundwater fluctuation, and will be prone to salinity hazard overtime. There may be need to carry out further investigations on the hydrological characteristics such as hydraulic conductivity, infiltration and evapotranspiration for the area; these may inform the need to design appropriate measures for the water resources management in this area; such as installation of drainage structures/facilities to check the flooding and/or drilling of more shallow tubewells for irrigation purposes in months of less rainfall.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2016, 4(6), 130-136. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-4-6-2
Pub. Date: December 26, 2016
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by Virendra Bahadur Singh and Jayant Nath Tripathi
Original Research
Factor analysis is applied to 18 hydrochemical variables of groundwater quality for 33 groundwater samples to interpret the relationships with specific processes that control the quality of groundwater in Noida area which is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi in the river basin of Yamuna. The three factor model for this area explains 79.30% of total variance. Factor 1, which explains 47.25% of the total variance, has strong positive loadings on Mg2+, Cl-, SO42-, TH, EC, TDS, Na+.Factor 2 explains 16.75 % of the total variance with moderate positive loadings on K+, HCO3, CIA, and Ca2+. Factor 3 explains 15.30 % of the total variance with strong positive loadings on Na % and SAR. Factor 1, 2 and 3 can be interpreted as salinity, alkalinity and pollution respectively.The geographical distribution of the factor scores at individual bore wells delineated boundaries, which define where groundwater is affected by salinization, alkalinity and pollution. In this study multivariate analysis reveals that the over-pumping and pollution caused differences in terms of water quality and hence for proper management of groundwater requires rainwater harvesting and water softening techniques to reduce the salinity.Thus, this study shows the effectiveness of multivariate statistical technique factor analysis for analysis and interpretation in the groundwater quality problem.
American Journal of Water Resources. 2016, 4(6), 121-129. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-4-6-1
Pub. Date: December 12, 2016
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