CHARACTERIZATION AND GROUNDWATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF UMUAHIA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UPPER IMO RIVER BASIN, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

BY

ONYIAGU MICHEAL KAMSO REG. 20081621875 A PROJECT WRITTEN IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY (B.TECH) IN GEOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY P.M.B 1526 OWERRI

JANUARY, 2014
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DECLARATION I, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx hereby declare that this work titled, Characterization And Groundwater Quality Assessment Of Umuahia South Local Government, Upper Imo River Basin, Southeastern Nigeria was carried out by me and submitted to the Department of Geosciences, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. I declare that apart from references made to other peoples work which have duly been acknowledged, this work is the product of my own research and has neither in whole nor in part been presented for other awards elsewhere.

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CERTIFICATION This Project work was carried out by xxxxxxxxxxxxxx of the Department of Geosciences, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and is hereby certified by: XXXXXXXXXXX Supervisor .. Prof. Ibe K.K Head of Department . Date Date

External Supervisor

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DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the Almighty God for His providence and love to me through the journey.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am truly grateful to my academic supervisor for his kind supervision. I owe my appreciation to the entire Lecturers of Geosciences department. I am really grateful to you all. This is a medium to show appreciation to my parents and my siblings. I thank you for the support you have been giving me especially in my education. To my friends and the host of others, I really appreciate you all. To my able course mates it is been a wonderful moment working with you. The positive influence you had on me will ring for a life time.

ABSTRACT The area under investigation is Umuahia South Local Government, in the upper Imo River Basin, southeastern Nigeria. The area is underlain by the Benin and Ameki Formations. The physicochemical properties of the groundwater sources in the area are in focus. This is aimed at characterizing and assessing the groundwater quality to ascertain if there is any degradation of the groundwater systems arising from increased urbanization, industrialization and agricultural activities within the past few decades. The mean value of the pH is 8.39. Other measured parameters have mean values (in mg/l) of 64.35 TDS; 0.13 Fe 2+; 5.03 Ca2+; 2.79 K+; 5.74 Na+; 1.49 Cl-, 5.85 SO4 2-, 0.55 Mg2+ and 0.1 NO3-.Higher nitrate values observed in the surface water samples have been attributed to increased agricultural activities, while higher magnesium concentration in the

groundwater is attributed to dissolution of aquifer materials by water. The mean cation concentration is decreasing in the order Na Ca K Fe, while that of the anions is decreasing in the order HCO3 SO4 Cl NO3 revealing that the main water type is Na-(Ca)HCO3 water. When compared with the NSDWQ (2007) standards for safe drinking water, the concentrations fall within the limits recommended for potable water. The high pH values, however, impart slight alkalinity to the waters and hence may require minor treatment. Sodium Adsorption Ratios (SAR) for the study area is 0.679, showing that both sources are suitable for irrigation.
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TABLE OF CONTENT Title page Declaration Certification Dedication Acknowledgment Abstract Table of Content List of Table List of Figures CHAPTER ONE 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 INTRODUCTION AIM AND OBJECTIVE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM SCOPE OF STUDY GEOLOGY AND PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE STUDY AREA 1 3 4 4 5 5 6
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1.4.1 Relief and Drainage 1.4.2 Geomorphology

1.4.3 Geology and Hydrogeology 1.5 Review of Related Work

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CHAPTER TWO 2.0 2.1 2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK GROUNDWATER OCCURRENCE OF GROUND WATER 13 13 15 16 16 17 17 17

2.2.1 Aquifers 2.2.2 Confined Aquifers 2.2.3 Unconfined Aquifers 2.2.4 Semi Confined Or Leaky Aquifers 2.3 GROUNDWATER TABLE

CHAPTER THREE 3.0 3.1 3.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS DATA AND SAMPLE COLLECTION LABORATORY ANALYSES FOR WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS 18 18 20 20 21 21
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3.2.1 Estimation of Ph Value 3.2.2 Determination of Calcium 3.2.3 Determination of Magnesium

3.2.4 Estimation of Sodium 3.2.5 Determination of Potassium 3.2.6 Determination of Chloride 3.2.7 Determination of Nitrate 3.2.8 Determination of Sulphate 3.2.9 Determination of Biocarbonate 3.2.10 Determination of Total Dissolved Solid CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 4.1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION RESULTS

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25 25 27 32 38 38 39 43 44

4.1.1 Spatial Variation Plots 4.1.2 Geochemical Plots 4.2 DISCUSSION

4.2.1 Physical Parameters 4.2.2 Chemical Parameters 4.2.3 Classification of Groundwater Types 4.2.4 Agricultural Usability

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CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 5.1 5.2 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATION 48 48 48 50

REFERENCES

LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Correlation chart of the tertiary Niger Delta succession-and equivalent outcrops after Reyment 1965. Table 3.1: Location of Sampling Locations 19 Table 4.1: Physico-Chemical Parameters of Groundwater samples in the study area Table 4.2: Classification of Hardness (Tebbutt, 1979) Table 4.3: Calculated SAR Values from the Borehole Water Samples 26 42 45 10

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Location Map of the Study Area Showing Sample locations Figure 1.2: Geologic Map of Abia State Showing the Study Area8 Figure 4.1: Spatial Variation in the physical parameters in the study area (a) pH (b) Electrical conductivity (c) Total Dissolved Solids Figure 4.2: Spatial variation in the Major Anions Concentration in the Study Area (a) Biocarbonate (b) Nitrate (c) Sulphate (d) Chloride Figure 4.3: Spatial variation in the Major Cations Concentration in the Study Area (a) Calcium (b) Iron (c) Magnesium (d) Potassium (e) Sodium Figure 4.4: Piper Diagram Figure 4.5: Durov Diagram Figure 4.6: Schoeller Diagram 31 32 32 33 29 27 7

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