Geospatial Modeling of Groundwater Quality in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau, Nigeria

Abstract

Water is an essential requirement by all living things for metabolism. It is universally acknowledged as fundamental, after air, to the needs of man and indeed his survival here on earth. There are different sources of water namely; atmospheric, surface and groundwater. Groundwater is the most dependable due to its widespread occurrence, drought reliability, pure natural quality and consistent temperature. This research examined the quality of groundwater in Jos South Local Government Area using geo-spatial technique within a two-year period. Within these years, samples were collected in five intervals from sixty-four wells/boreholes divided into early rain, peak rain and late rain; early dry and late dry seasons. Different thematic datasets were adequately processed and digitized with root mean square error of ?0.00002 while mid-resolution Landsat image was classified using ENVI 4.7 with an accuracy of 0.994 and 99.5% respectively. The results obtained from the different data processes and laboratory analysis were geo-spatially analysed to determine the distribution, trend and inter-relationship among the observed differences in water quality index. The observed differences in water quality index in the study area are closely linked and determined by several factors of which well depth, Landuse, seasonal dynamics and presence or absence of coliform remain predominant. The increase in coliform was observed to be directly proportional to decrease in water quality index in the study area. The water quality index was observed to fall between 0 and 65. The groundwater in the study area is classified into four categories of bad, fair and excellent. However, none of the borehole or well samples fell within the excellent category.