Estimate Of Groundwater Recharge In Enugu Metropolis, Using The Chloride Mass Balance, Water Budget And Chaturvedi Formula
Ozoko Daniel Chukwuemeka
Department of Geology and Mining, Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani, Enugu, Nigeria
Ogbobe Emmanuel Nnabuchi
Department of Geology and Mining, Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani, Enugu, Nigeria
Keywords: Groundwater, Recharge, Chloride mass, Balance, water budget, Chaturvedi Formula
Abstract
Groundwater recharge estimation was carried out in Enugu metropolis using chloride mass balance, water budget and Chaturvedi equations. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, a total of 320 water samples of chloride concentrations were calculated in twenty (20) shallow hand dug well and borehole locations and twenty (20) rain water locations in an open rainwater collector in the study area. The measurements of chloride in groundwater and rainfall were made during 8-month period of the raining season beginning with the first rain on 5th March 2022 and the last rain on 10th October 2022. Average groundwater recharge values calculated using the chloride mass balance, water budget and Chaturvedi formula were 1798.0 mm/year (17.9 %), 870.93 mm/year (8.71 %), and 48.5105 mm/month (0.49 %) of the total precipitation received in Enugu metropolis, respectively. These results indicate that the use of these three methods have ability to estimate groundwater recharge in the study area.