Hydraulic Conductivity Estimates of Imo River Basin’s Aquiferous layers, Southeastern Nigeria Using Empirical Equations Derived from Electrical Resistivity Data

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VI, Issue V, May 2021|ISSN 2454-6194

Hydraulic Conductivity Estimates of Imo River Basin’s Aquiferous layers, Southeastern Nigeria Using Empirical Equations Derived from Electrical Resistivity Data

Blessing C. Ejiogu^1*, Eugene I. Nwosu², Ifeanyi I.C. Agbodike^2
1 Department of Physics, Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri, Nigeria
² Department Physics, Imo State University Owerri, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author

Abstract
This study was carried out to determine the equation (model) that fits best to the hydraulic conductivity values measured directly from pumping test data from monitoring wells. Three different electrical resistivity empirical equations were used to estimate aquifer hydraulic conductivity of Imo river basin, southeastern Nigeria, using surficial geo-sounding data. Two hundred (200) vertical electrical sounding (VES) data were obtained with forty-five (40) available pumping test data that were acquired from monitoring wells within the study area. Similarly, forty of the two hundred VES data were acquired close to the monitoring wells for parametric and correlation purposes. Three empirical resistivity model equations (N_ Model, H_ Model, and M_ Model) were used to estimate aquifer hydraulic conductivity across the study area. Estimates of the aquifer hydraulic conductivity from the three models revealed that the hydraulic conductivity ranges between 0.23- 26.43m/day with a mean value of 6.15 m/day for N_ Model. For H_ Model it ranged between 0.07 and 5.22m/day with a mean value of 1.03m/day and for M_ Model it ranged between 1.03 and13.42m/day with a mean value of 4.19m/day . The Aquifer hydraulic conductivity values estimated from the M_model when compared with the values from the pumping test showed a strong coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.82) while N_ Model and H_ Model revealed very poor correlations with the pumping test data, with negative correlations of -0.03 and -0.3 respectively. The results of the t _test revealed that there is no significant difference between the estimated hydraulic conductivity values from M_Model and pumping test data. These findings have therefore revealed that geologically constrained empirical resistivity equations are reliable for the estimation of aquifer hydraulic conductivity from surface resistivity data. The reason for the poor correlation of the N_Model and H_Model with the pumping test data in the study area is because local geology of the study area was not considered by the models.

Keywords: Vertical Resistivity Sounding, Pumping Test, Dar Zarrouk parameters, hydraulic conductivity,N_model

I.1ntroduction

Groundwater is one of the natural resources needed for industrial, domestic, and agricultural purposes. Presently, nearly fifty percent (50%) of the global population without access to potable water lives in Sub-Saharan Africa and approximately 700 million people in the region lack access to improved sanitation (UNICEF 2015). Access to safe drinking water is a key ingredient for environmental sustainability, better health, and poverty reduction. However, more than half of the rural people in countries in Sub-Saharan regions like Nigeria do not have access to a safe and reliable water supply [41]. Faced with this reality, the international community has set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and

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