Abstract
In recent years there has been serious concern on the deteriorating groundwater quality due to the activities of man. Geographic Information System (GIS), a high performance computer based tool is playing a critical role in water resource management and pollution study. In this work, the GIS software was used to analyze the effects of various data layers (topographic slope, groundwater table variation, soil porosity and land use activities) on the distribution of groundwater pollution in the Nigerian city of Uyo. Spatial variability map of different groundwater quality parameters were generated using interpolation operation in the software. A good correlation exists between some of the pollution indicators (total dissolved solids, TDS and conductiveity, CN, 0.8; chloride and TDS, 0.17 as well as TDS and sulphate, 0.23). The results of spatial variability maps of different groundwater quality parameters indicate an increase in the percentages of pollution levels during the last five years. Cross operation was also used to explain the effects of various data layers viz. topographic slope, groundwater slope, depth to groundwater layer and land use activities on the distribution of groundwater pollution.
Highlights
Of all the natural resources, water permeates perhaps most deeply into all aspects of life
Geographic Information System (GIS), a high performance computer based tool is playing a critical role in water resource management and pollution study
The GIS software was used to analyze the effects of various data layers on the distribution of groundwater pollution in the Nigerian city of Uyo
Summary
Of all the natural resources, water permeates perhaps most deeply into all aspects of life. Water is no doubt one of the most essential needs of human beings, for drinking and other domestic purposes. Its presence or lack of it determines to a great extent the nature of the natural environment in which life and majority of our economic activities depend on [1]. Water is a landscape element and as a chemically active mobile substance, it is always on contionous move through the surface and subsurface of the earth. Groundwater constitutes over 90% of the world’s readily available freshwater resources with the remaining 10% in lakes, reservoirs, rivers and wetlands [2]. Though groundwater is generally of good quality, quality problems do occur. More serious than natural pollution is contamination from the activities of man
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