The high rate of water scarcity in both urban and rural Nigeria has become very alarming and worrisome due to frequent borehole failures. Groundwater is a hidden natural resource and it is very vital to human existence due to its roles in all aspects of life. Frequent borehole failure according to several sources is attributed to the fact that most boreholes and hand-dug wells were not sunk based on good hydro-geological/geophysical information, but are drilled at locations pre-determined by their owners [1, 2, 3]. Some remarkable studies observed that the roles of groundwater in nation-building cannot be overemphasized [4, 5]. Hence, this study is aimed at delineating the fractured zones for groundwater development for industrial boreholes. In 20211, a study estimated that one hundred and three (103) million Nigerians still lack basic sanitation facilities and sixty-nine (69) million Nigerians do not have access to improved sources of water [6]. This is a far larger number than most countries in the developing world and a significant portion of the population in Africa. In addition, wide disparities persist across zones within states, especially in rural areas and some urban communities, which aggravate the situation leaving more children and women vulnerable to sickness and poverty. Most of the water required for domestic and agricultural uses is sourced from seasonal streams and rivers in the area and from shallow hand-dug wells. These sources most often do not provide the needed good quality supply as they are highly prone to contamination by human activities [4, 7, 8].
The continuous deterioration in the quality of drinking water supplies in Nigeria by several human activities has generated serious challenges such as solid wastes [4, 8, 9, 10]. The interactions between surface contaminants and the surface/groundwater have led to recent negative environmental impacts and public health risks [4, 11, 5, 12, 13]. However, the rural regional water supply does not face serious pollution threats compared to the cities. Therefore, the major water challenges in rural settlements may be attributed to frequent borehole failures. Borehole failure is a common phenomenon in Nigeria with a long history as reported by several studies [1, 14, 15]. Several geophysical investigations have been conducted to ensure that the challenges of boreholes are resolved. However, these efforts have yet yielded the required results and expectations as the borehole failures continue to increase [15]. According to Table 1, several surveys show the high rate of borehole failures in Nigeria has been attributed to inadequate geophysical investigation of the concerned concerned [2, 16]. According to [3], more than 30% of the boreholes dug within the complex basement reportedly failed, while the so-called successes were not encouraging due to low yield. In addition, a remarkable study noted that to ensure adequate water security and sustainability, there is a need to install multiple boreholes in geophysical identified groundwater promising zones where the aquifer occurs in deeper zones and fractured [3]. This is because most remarkable studies conducted in the complex basement rock noted that the weathered/fractured units are largely responsible for the regional groundwater-bearing capacity [3, 11, 17, 18]These situations therefore make this type of investigation a prima facie for the precise location of fractured zones for productive borehole sites. This study therefore evaluated the VES station parameters for groundwater development in a study area that falls within the Basement Complex terrain of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Table 1
Brief History of Borehole Failures and the Possible Causes in Nigeria
SN | Borehole Installed | Unpro-ductive | % failure | Possible Cause (s) | Source(s) |
1 | 69 | 16 | 30% | Poor or lack of geophysical investigation | [1] |
2 | 50 | 31 | 62% | Poor design and construction, lack of geophysical survey & poor maintenance | [2] |
3 | 256 | 59 | 23% | Seasonal variations in water level and lack of geophysical investigation | [14] |
4 | 60 | 12 | 20% | Aquifer depletion, equipment failure, poorly well design and construction | [16] |