Groundwater Pollution in Africa

by Yongxin Xu (Editor), Brent Usher (Editor)

Overview

In 2000, various UN organizations launched a collaborative effort to assess the vulnerability of groundwater in several African cities. The project addressed the issue of aquifer vulnerability and the protection of groundwater quality. This book is a collection of thirty peer-reviewed papers on the topic, and provides a glimpse of the situation across the continent. The book begins with a broad overview of the situation in Africa, highlighting topics of special significance to the continent and presenting a variety of country perspectives. The subsequent papers provide specific case studies, introducing a range of diverse hydrogeological settings, with associated pollution sources, their causes and consequences. Methodologies for understanding impacts and for improving the situation are considered, with a view to the challenges ahead. The book will provide valuable reference and insight to professionals and decision-makers confronted with a wide diversity of challenges, including groundwater quality management in areas of rapid urbanisation in Africa and other developing areas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415411677
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/05/2006
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction:

Issues of groundwater pollution in Africa

Overview:

Nitrate pollution of groundwater in Southern Africa; Nitrate pollution of groundwater in Nigeria; Groundwater quality in Cameroon and its vulnerability to pollution; Groundwater contamination in Ghana; Characterization of diffuse pollution of shallow groundwater in the Harare urban area, Zimbabwe; Groundwater contamination from pesticides in Africa; Degradation of groundwater resources under African cities Technical and socio-economic challenges

Groundwater Pollution Status and Aquifer Vulnerability:

A new cartographic approach to determine the groundwater vulnerability of the Abidjan Aquifer; Vulnerability assessment of the Abidjan Quaternary Aquifer using the DRASTIC method; Groundwater pollution from urban development in Cotonou City, Benin; Assessment of water pollution and risks to surface and groundwater resources in Bamako, Mali; Statistical assessment of groundwater quality in Bamako City, Mali; Spatial and temporal variations of groundwater pollution in Ougadougou City, Burkina Faso; Groundwater contamination in the Niamey urban area, Niger;

Management of nitrate pollution of groundwater in African cities: The case of Dakar, Senegal; The application of electrical resistivity techniques in the delineation of saltwater-freshwater in the Keta Basin, Ghana; Degree of groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Vulnerability and pollution of groundwater in Kisauni, Mombasa, Kenya; A chemical study of surface and groundwater in the Lake Chilwa Basin, Malawi; Groundwater quality assessments in the John Laing and Misisi areas of Lusaka; Groundwater quality case studies in Botswana; Contamination and protection in the Cape Flats Aquifer, South Africa; An evaluation of groundwater pollution from pesticides in South Africa using the VLEACH model.

Special Topics:

Contamination of the Abidjan aquifer by sewage: An assessment of extent and strategies for protection; The impacts of coal and gold mining on the associated water resources in South Africa; Monitored natural attenuation of petroleum hydrocarbons in a fractured environment – A case study; Management strategies to mitigate clogging and biofouling in production boreholes

Way Forward:

A South African perspective on the protection of groundwater sources