Geo-electric Sounduings For Groundwater Exploration In Part Of Port Harcourt, River State, South-eastern Nigeria

Groundwater is the water that exists in pore spaces and fractures in rocks and sediments beneath the water table. The need for groundwater has increased tremendously due to the unavailability and the contamination of surface water bodies by the intrusion of saline water and human activities.

The geo-electric soundings were carried out in Eleme Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state in order to delineate the subsurface geo-electric layers and the depth to the aquifer unit for groundwater development.

Ten (10) vertical electrical sounding stations were occupied within the study area using the schlumberger electrode configuration. The Pasi Earth Resistivity Meter (16EL Model) was used. The sounding curves were classified into five (5) curve types: KH, HKH, QHK, HKQH and QQ curves. The quantitative interpretation of the geo-sounding curves by partial curve matching and computer iteration revealed 5 geo-electric layers based on characteristic resistivity ranges. The layers are; topsoil, lateritic sand, sand, coarse sand and clay. The major aquifer units in the area are the sand and the coarse sand formations.Virtually all the VES points are good for groundwater development, because of the dominant sand and coarse sand formations, which is the major aquifer unit in the study area.