Geoelectrical investigation of groundwater potential and vulnerability of Oraifite, Anambra State, Nigeria
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Geoelectrical investigation of groundwater potential and vulnerability of Oraifite, Anambra State, Nigeria Joy O. Eugene‑Okorie1 · Daniel N. Obiora1 · Johnson C. Ibuot1 · Desmond O. Ugbor1 Received: 1 May 2019 / Accepted: 7 September 2020 / Published online: 25 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
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. Keywords Vertical electrical sounding · Groundwater potential · Vulnerability · Dar Zarrouk parameters · Aquifer transmissivity · Oraifite
Introduction 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. 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). The development of groundwater resources for potable use has increased drastically over the years due to rapid expansion of cities, increase in population and contamination of surface water. For effective groundwater development, there is a need for adequate knowledge of the properties of subsurface aquifer of the study area, since these properties have great influence on the aquifer repositories. Due to the heterogeneous nature of * Daniel N. Obiora [email protected] 1
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
the subsurface, these properties vary widely across an area of study (Ibuot et al. 2017b; Obiora et al. 2015; Alhassan et al. 2015). Groundwater is more desirable than surface water because unlike surface water, it is relatively free from contamination and does not require elaborate purification. The
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