Groundwater Protection As Viable Option For Sustainable Water Supply In Nigeria

Abstract

The threat of contamination of groundwater due to indiscriminate refuse disposal, bad management of sewage and septic tanks, industrial effluent discharges, leakage of underground fuel pipes and storage tanks and non-point pollution sources in major urban and semi- urban locations across the country are real. The argument to start planning for groundwater protection before there is serious contamination is clear and powerful. Such preventive action is the essence of groundwater protection. The logic of preventing groundwater contamination is clear but our problem or concern is in remediation of groundwater contamination. Although there are many well documented examples of groundwater remediation and good sources of information on how to clean up contaminated aquifers, the need to protect our groundwater supplies cannot be over emphasized. The age long aphorism “ prevention is better than cure” applies here. This is because, once polluted, groundwater supplies are difficult and expensive to purify and the aquifer requires a long time to “heal” naturally. It then constitutes a health hazard to the consumers. This paper therefore addresses the question of how we can protect groundwater from becoming polluted. The paper not only concentrates on the problems of protecting groundwater from toxic chemicals but also discusses ways of protecting groundwater from conventional pollutants.

Keywords:Groundwater protection, contamination, pollution, sustainable water supply, Nigeria.

Global Journal of Geological Sciences Vol. 6 (2) 2008: pp. 153-156