Groundwater biodiversity and water quality of wells in the Southern region of Benin

Abstract

This study performed in South-Eastern Benin aims to correlate the regional subterranean aquatic fauna, still poorly unknown, with the main physico-chemical characteristics of well-water used by human populations. Two kinds of descriptors are used. Physicochemical analyses of water and faunistic sampling were consequently performed for one year at 15 stations. Multivariate analyses show different groups of stations depending on the kind of descriptor. Thus it appears that, in the Pob e region, the water quality, very variable from one station to another, is certainly not the main determinant of the wellwater fauna distribution. Among the subterranean crustaceans, species belonging to genera Allocyclops and Metastenasellus have never been described before. These results are a contribution to the knowledge of the regional biodiversity and suggest that this biodiversity can be used as an indicator for better protection of regional groundwater.

Groundwater Hydrochemical Characteristics in a Plain River Network Region: Effects of Dissolved Organic Carbon and Possible Traceability of Pollution Sources

“…Groundwater quality is mainly measured using physical indicators, such as total dissolved solids (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC), chemical indicators, such as chemical oxygen demand, nitrate (NO3  ) concentration, and heavy metal concentrations, and biological indicators, such as total coliforms and total bacteria (Brezonik and Arnold 2012). The water quality index (WQI), which incorporates multiple indicators, is often used to evaluate groundwater quality globally (Vasanthavigar et al 2010;Tiwari et al 2015;Lagnika et al 2016). The hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater refer to the composition, concentration, and proportion of major ions (K + , Ca 2+ , Na + , Mg 2+ , Cl  , SO4 2 , HCO3  , and CO3 2 ), which comprehensively indicate the regional effects of various factors, such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, and biochemistry (Chen et al 2002).…”