Water is essential for sustenance of life and determines the overall socioeconomic development of any nation. In Nigeria, so many programmes to improve water supply and sanitation situation had been put in place by different administrations. Despite this, the hope of meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of safe water supply by the year 2015 is still uncertain. The MDG in water supply and sanitation aims to half the proportion of people without access to potable water supply and basic sanitation. More recent statements of the MDGs refer to the right of communities to have access to an adequate supply of safe water. Safe rural water supply coverage in this context is taken to mean water that does not represent a significant health risk; that is of sufficient quantity to meet all domestic needs; that is available continuously to all of the people and is affordable. There is no gainsaying the fact that the objective of improved rural water supply generally is limited to improved health. This paper therefore examines the extent to which government, implementors, and users are adopting different but interrelated mechanisms to deal with water stress in Nigeria. The paper also identifies the challenges in governance, government policies and priorities as responsible for poor service delivery. More importantly, a policy/institutional framework for sustainable rural water supply and sanitation delivery is developed towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Wetlands play a very important role in the sustenance of both the surface andgroundwater resources of the country. It is sad to observe that the country is fast losingher wetlands, as the rich wetlands are being seriously threatened by a number ofanthropogenic and biophysical factors. Some of the notable human actions includepopulation pressure, rapid urbanization, mining, oil and industrial waste pollution,overgrazing, logging, dam construction, transportation routes and other physicalinfrastructure. Others factors are uncontrolled tilling for crop production andunprecedented/unregulated land reclamation. Subsidence, saltwater intrusion, sandstorm, desertification and droughts, invasion by alien floral and faunal species as well asmarine and coastal erosion are natural threats to wetlands in Nigeria. Wetlandsdestruction affects negatively water supply and water resources management. This studyexamines in great detail the fate of wetlands in the face of climate change andrecommends that efforts should be made to accurately document the country’s wetland.The paper therefore suggested sustainable options for wetlands and water resourcesmanagement in Nigeria. This, the paper opined, can be done through the strengtheningof wetlands preservation and conservation regulation, mitigating the effects of climatechange as well as the development of deliberate restoration programmes and policiesaimed at sustaining degraded wetlands in Nigeria.
This study involves the determination of the hydrochemistry of groundwater and its suitability for drinking, domestic and other purposes in the area. Results show that Hardness range between 2.53mg/l -5.06mg/l with a mean value of 3.69mg/l, indicating that the water from the area is soft. Electrical conductivity (EC) level ranges from 6.23µS/cm -13.74µS/cm with a mean of 9.80µS/cm. pH range from 6.50 -6.86 with a mean value of 6.66, indicating slightly acidic water. TDS range from 5.77mg/l -18.30mg/l with a mean value of 11.4.1mg/l. Temp ranges from 26°C -27°C with a mean value of 26.6°C. Calcium (Ca The dominant cation and anion in the groundwater from the study area are Ca 2+ and HCO 3 -respectively. The ions owe their origin to rainfall and dissolution of minerals from the Benin Formation where the wells tap from. It is recommended that seasonal variation of groundwater chemistry studies be carried out regularly to detect any future degradation in the area and the results would be used for decision and policy making.
The protective capacity of aquifers is a prerequisite for groundwater quality in areas prone to contamination from the ground surface. Aquifers without protective layers are more susceptible to contaminations from point and non-point sources. The protective capacity of an aquifer significantly correlates with the thickness of clay and organic materials that mantled it. To assess aquifer protective capacity, electrical conductivity property of saturated clay was determined from filtered imaginary and real components of Very Low-Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM). The filtered real components against distance and current density pseudo-section produced from real components were concomitantly used for interpretation. Clays capping aquifers were delineated from those without capping from low and high values of filtered imaginary and real components and current density pseudo-section. The distribution of clay laterally across the area indicates that aquifers are poorly protected and susceptible to contaminations from a point and non-point sources. The apparent agreement between inferred geology from VLF-EM interpretation, borehole data and resistivity data underscores the efficacy of VLF-EM as an important tool that can be used or combined with other geophysical methods and borehole information/data for assessment of the protective capacity of the aquifer.
The study evaluated the spatial variation of groundwater parameters in Port Harcourt metropolis using GIS. Thirty two (32) water samples were collected from boreholes from different parts of the study area into a treated and well labeled 1.5 litres plastic bootle. The water samples were then subjected to laboratory analysis for temperature, pH, Calcium (Ca 2+ ), Chloride (Cl -), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Nitrate (NO 3 -), Sulphate (SO 4 2-), Sodium (Na + ), Potassium (K + ), Magnesium (Mg 2+ ), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Salinity, and bicarbonate (HCO 3 -). Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to record the latitudes and longitudes of the sampled boreholes. The result from the laboratory was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis in order to determine the mean, range and standard error of each parameter with the use of SPSS. Thereafter the result was imported to ArcGIS to generate the spatial variability maps for some groundwater parameters through the use of kriging in geostatistic module. Surfer 8 was used to generate the 2D and 3D representation of the borehole depths while Idrisi for windows was used to generate the relationship between borehole depth and pH ; and borehole depth and Ca. The result showed that Cl had the highest concentration among the anions with a mean value of 161.49 mg/l and Ca had the highest concentration among the cations with a mean value of 6.53 mg/l. The mean values of the all the groundwater parameters were lower than the WHO standard. Moderately weak inverse relationship was observed between the borehole depth and groundwater pH concentration; and between borehole depth and groundwater calcium concentration. It is recommended that the use of GIS should be encouraged to periodically monitor and assess groundwater quality.
The manner in which municipal wastes generated are disposed in most urban areas in Nigeria is worrisome. The upsurge in population density and its resultant increase in urbanization and industrialization and the amount of waste generated in Aba, are of great concern. The objective of this research is to evaluate the concentration of some heavy metals in soils in the vicinity of Enyimba dumpsite in Aba, Nigeria. Thirty soil samples were collected and analyzed in the laboratory for some heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometric method and multivariate statistical techniques. Twenty-five of the samples were obtained from the vicinity of the dumpsite while five samples are collected far away from the dumpsite to serve as control samples. The overall decreasing metal concentration in the dumpsite soil is: Cd > Co > Cu > Zn > As > Pb > Mn > Ni > Cr. A positive correlation exists between Cd and organic matter (r = 0.598). Geo-accumulation index and contamination factor showed a moderate contaminated with Cd only while the other metals are in their uncontaminated level. Factor analysis revealed four major components accounting for 78.82% of cumulative variance of the contamination: Cd, Cu, Co and organic matter; Pb, Zn and pH; Mn, As, clay + silt and finally Cr and Ni. From the above observations, it is evident that only Cd showed more pronounced level of pollution than any other metal. The need to replace open dumpsites with well designed sanitary landfills is advocated.
Nigeria has greater challenges when it comes to water development and management. The current water resources development and supply status is unacceptably low and needs a major transformation. With the rapid growth in population, urbanization, industrialization and competition for economic development, water resource has become vulnerable to depletion and degradation. Management of this valuable resource is determined by its acceptability and utilization in terms of quantity and quality. Due to imbalance between demand and availability, management approaches are facing various ethical dilemas. This paper therefore considers the water supply and sanitation situation in the country and the challenges facing the sector. The paper calls for institutional reforms and review of policy targets, define key elements for the development of action and investment plans as well as provide some guidelines in order to minimize duplication and maximize effectiveness. The paper also suggested strategies and viable framework/agenda for sustainable water supply and emphasizes that the machinery of water resources development and management needs an urgent overhauling with the aim of streamlining the overlapping functions of the various agencies that have operated the system up till now. More importantly, the paper suggested integrated approaches/strategies for sustainable management as well as offers relevant policy recommendations for water resources management in Nigeria.
This study evaluates the subsurface lithologies as well as examines the properties of the soils at a University location within the fresh water swamp terrain in the Niger Delta. Borings for subsurface exploration in the area were made at five well spaced locations with a hand auger to a maximum depth of 4.00 m in each borehole. Soil samples were retrieved at 0.5 m interval and at positions where changes in lithology were noticed during the boring process. Laboratory tests were carried out on selected and representative soil samples recovered from the borings in accordance with BS 1377 (1975) and ASTM (1979) standards. Moisture content range from 20.6% to a maximum of 26.5% in the silty clay and gravelly, silty clay soils located at 2 m depth and low to medium plasticity range (12 to 18%). The undrained friction angle was determined to be 30 while the undrained cohesion has a value of 58 KN/m 2 , the computed coefficient of volume compressibility (Mv) gave 1.24 m 2 /MN while the coefficient of consolidation (Cv) resulted in 3.38 m 2 /year. Computed total settlements of 69 mm are within design limits for shallow foundation. Borehole 1 (BH1) was dry while BH2 recorded 3.80 m as the ground water level. Observed water table depths in BH3, BH4 and BH5 were 2.00 m, 1.70 and 1.50 m, respectively, at the time of the subsurface investigations. Higher values are expected especially at the peak of the rainy months. Foundation systems in the area must take special precaution to prevent seepage into the structures. This could be by drainage or waterproofing or a combination of both methods.
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