Groundwater Quality Assessment in Akoko District, Southwestern Nigeria: A GIS-Based Hydrogeochemical and Statistical Analysis
Abstract
The practice of exclusive rain-fed agriculture may not guarantee food security in today’s rapidly growing and urbanizing Nigerian society due to seasonality of rainfall regimes. This study employed index-based analytical and statistical techniques in GIS environment to evaluate the hydrogeochemical processes influencing groundwater quality in the Akoko area of Nigeria with a view to determining the suitability of the groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes. On-site pH, TDS, and EC were measured in situ using Hanna meter. While SO42+ was determined using a colorimeter, Ca2+, Na+, and K+ were measured using a flame photometer. Titrimetric approach was adopted for estimating HCO3-, Cl-, and TH. The predominance of the cations and anions followed Ca2+>Mg2+>Na+>K+ and HCO3->Cl->SO42->NO3- order respectively. Alkali earth metals (Ca2+ + Mg2+) dominated over alkali metals (Na+ + K+), and (CO3- + HCO3-) exceeded (SO42- + Cl-), suggesting continental environment. Negative chloro-alkaline indices suggested exchange of (Ca2+ + Mg2+) in groundwater for (Na+ + K+) in the aquifer. Ionic ratios exhibited depletion of Na+ against Cl-, and prevalence of weathering processes. The pH values ranged from 6.4 to 7.8 (slightly acidic to alkaline). The groundwater was moderately hard to hard, signifying a strong influence of bicarbonate ions. The most prevalent water type was Ca-HCO3, indicating silicate minerals dissolution consistent with Gibbs plot. From PCA results, strong correlations existed between DWQI and EC, TDS, Cl-, SO42-, Na+, and K+. Generally, the groundwater is drinkable and largely suitable for irrigation following WHO standards and FAO benchmarks with possible salinity management.
Keywords
Water quality indexIrrigationGISHydrogeochemical faciesFood securitySAR
References
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