IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i5p823-d98664.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of Spatial Variation of Groundwater Quality in a Mining Basin

Author

Listed:
  • Augustina Clara Alexander

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

  • Julius Ndambuki

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

  • Ramadhan Salim

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa)

  • Alex Manda

    (Department of Geological Science and Institute of Coastal Science and Policy, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA)

Abstract

Assessment of groundwater quality is vital for the sustainable safe use of this inimitable resource. However, describing the overall groundwater quality condition—particularly in a mining basin—is more complicated due to the spatial variability of multiple contaminants and the wide range of indicators found in these areas. This study applies a geographic information system (GIS)-based groundwater quality index (GQI) to assess water quality in a mining basin. The study synthesized nine different water quality parameters available—nitrate, sulphate, chloride, sodium, magnesium, calcium, dissolved mineral solids, potassium, and floride ( NO 3 − , SO 4 2 − , Cl − , Na + , Mg 2 + , Ca 2 + , DMS, K + and F − )—from 90 boreholes across the basin by indexing them numerically relative to the World Health Organization standards. The study compared data from 2006 and 2011. The produced map indicated a lower GQI of 67 in 2011 compared to 72 in 2006. The maximum GQI of 84.4 calculated using only three parameters ( Mg 2 + , K + and F − ) compared well with the GQI of 84.6 obtained using all nine parameters. A noticeable declining groundwater quality trend was observed in most parts of the basin, especially in the south-western and the northern parts of the basin. The temporal variation between the GQIs for 2006 and 2011 indicated variable groundwater quality (coefficient of variation = 15–30%) in areas around the mining field, and even more variability (coefficient of variation >30%) in the south-western and eastern parts of the basin.

Suggested Citation

  • Augustina Clara Alexander & Julius Ndambuki & Ramadhan Salim & Alex Manda, 2017. "Assessment of Spatial Variation of Groundwater Quality in a Mining Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:5:p:823-:d:98664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/5/823/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/5/823/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCartney, Matthew Peter, 2004. "Hydrology and water resources development in the Olifants River Catchment," IWMI Working Papers H035861, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Insaf Babiker & Mohamed Mohamed & Tetsuya Hiyama, 2007. "Assessing groundwater quality using GIS," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(4), pages 699-715, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Salvador García-Ayllón, 2018. "GIS Assessment of Mass Tourism Anthropization in Sensitive Coastal Environments: Application to a Case Study in the Mar Menor Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Dr. Blessing C. Ejiogu & Mr. Chukwuemeka O. Nwosu & Dr Joy N. Chukwuneye, 2023. "Homogeneity in Aquifer Vulnerability Index (AQI) and Water Quality Index (WQI) around some selected dumpsites in Imo River Basin Southeastern Nigeria," International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science, International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science (IJLTEMAS), vol. 12(08), pages 01-13, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. B. Yan & X. Su & Y. Chen, 2009. "Functional Structure and Data Management of Urban Water Supply Network Based on GIS," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(13), pages 2633-2653, October.
    2. Namakando, Namakando, 2020. "Stakeholder perceptions of raw water quality and its management in Fetakgomo and Maruleng municipalities of Limpopo Province," Research Theses 334769, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    3. Rajendra B. Zolekar & Rahul S. Todmal & Vijay S. Bhagat & Santosh A. Bhailume & Mahendra S. Korade & Sumit Das, 2021. "Hydro-chemical characterization and geospatial analysis of groundwater for drinking and agricultural usage in Nashik district in Maharashtra, India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4433-4452, March.
    4. Lazhar Belkhiri & Tahoora Narany, 2015. "Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Geostatistical Techniques and Structural Equation Modeling to Identify Spatial Variability of Groundwater Quality," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(6), pages 2073-2089, April.
    5. Abdessamed Derdour & Hazem Ghassan Abdo & Hussein Almohamad & Abdullah Alodah & Ahmed Abdullah Al Dughairi & Sherif S. M. Ghoneim & Enas Ali, 2023. "Prediction of Groundwater Quality Index Using Classification Techniques in Arid Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. A. El-Hames & A. Hannachi & M. Al-Ahmadi & N. Al-Amri, 2013. "Groundwater Quality Zonation Assessment using GIS, EOFs and Hierarchical Clustering," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(7), pages 2465-2481, May.
    7. M. El-Fadel & M. Tomaszkiewicz & Y. Adra & S. Sadek & M. Abou Najm, 2014. "GIS-Based Assessment for the Development of a Groundwater Quality Index Towards Sustainable Aquifer Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3471-3487, September.
    8. Saret Bun & Sreymao Sek & Chantha Oeurng & Manabu Fujii & Phaly Ham & Pisut Painmanakul, 2021. "A Survey of Household Water Use and Groundwater Quality Index Assessment in a Rural Community of Cambodia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-24, September.
    9. M. Annie Jenifer & Madan Kumar Jha, 2022. "A Novel GIS-Based Modeling Approach for Evaluating Aquifer Susceptibility to Anthropogenic Contamination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    10. M. Annie Jenifer & Madan Kumar Jha & Amina Khatun, 2021. "Assessing Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Models for Predicting Groundwater Quality in a River Basin of South India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-29, June.
    11. Chander Singh & Satyanarayan Shashtri & Saumitra Mukherjee & Rina Kumari & Ram Avatar & Amit Singh & Ravi Singh, 2011. "Application of GWQI to Assess Effect of Land Use Change on Groundwater Quality in Lower Shiwaliks of Punjab: Remote Sensing and GIS Based Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(7), pages 1881-1898, May.
    12. Meenu Rani & Himanshu Joshi & Kireet Kumar & Darshan Kumar Bhatt & Pavan Kumar, 2021. "Climate change scenario of hydro-chemical analysis and mapping spatio-temporal changes in water chemistry of water springs in Kumaun Himalaya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4659-4674, March.
    13. P. J. Sajil Kumar, 2022. "GIS-based mapping of water-level fluctuations (WLF) and its impact on groundwater in an Agrarian District in Tamil Nadu, India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 994-1009, January.
    14. Chandrashekhar Bhuiyan & Prashant Kumar Champati Ray, 2017. "Groundwater Quality Zoning in the Perspective of Health Hazards," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(1), pages 251-267, January.
    15. Mohamed Alfy & Aref Lashin & Nassir Al-Arifi & Abdulaziz Al-Bassam, 2015. "Groundwater Characteristics and Pollution Assessment Using Integrated Hydrochemical Investigations GIS and Multivariate Geostatistical Techniques in Arid Areas," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(15), pages 5593-5612, December.
    16. M. Salahat & M. Al-Qinna & K. Mashal & N. Hammouri, 2014. "Identifying Major Factors Controlling Groundwater Quality in Semiarid Area Using Advanced Statistical Techniques," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3829-3841, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:5:p:823-:d:98664. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.