Abstract
Electrical resistivity survey employing vertical electrical sounding was carried out in Oraifite, Southeastern Nigeria, involving a total of twenty soundings across, in order to assess the groundwater potential and the aquifer vulnerability in Oraifite. The field data were interpreted using the WINRESIST software, and the resulting geoelectric curves give the resistivities, depths and thicknesses of each geoelectrical layer. Dar Zarrouk parameters and aquifer transmissivity were computed using the values of aquifer resistivity and thickness. From the results, variations of the computed parameters were observed. Aquifer resistivity ranges from 420.1 to 27,585.8 Ωm having an average value of 4906.3 Ωm, while its thickness varies from 13.4 to 93. 9 m. Longitudinal conductance varies from 0.0015 to 0.2136 Ω−1, transverse resistance ranges from 29,388.88 to 1,158,604.0 Ωm2, while the transmissivity varies from 1.1692 to 123.7905m2/day. The contour maps reveal the distributions of these parameters, which help in delineating zones with different layer characteristics. The result from this study can be a reference for decision making in the abstraction and management of groundwater repositories.
Highlights
Water is an essential resource for human development
The quality of groundwater is a major concern to residents, since these boreholes/wells are drilled without prior geophysical information (Ibuot et al 2017a; Obiora et al 2016a, b)
Groundwater contamination resulting from leaching of decomposed waste, septic tanks, pesticide, etc., has caused some boreholes/wells to be deserted (Makeig 1982). This is attributed to wildcat drillings without prior geophysical information about the area, which will serve as guide to drillers (Obiora et al 2016c)
Summary
Water is an essential resource for human development. It is used for various purposes which include domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. Groundwater is an important water resource in both the urban and rural areas of Nigeria. It is accessed mainly in the form of shallow (hand-dug) and deep (boreholes) wells. Groundwater contamination resulting from leaching of decomposed waste, septic tanks, pesticide, etc., has caused some boreholes/wells to be deserted (Makeig 1982) This is attributed to wildcat drillings without prior geophysical information about the area, which will serve as guide to drillers (Obiora et al 2016c). The first stage involves plotting of the vertical electrical sounding curves for each of the survey locations from the calculated apparent resistivity and half-current electrode spacing (Fig. 2a and b).
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