Mapping groundwater quality degradation beneath growing rural towns in sub-Saharan Africa

绘制撒哈拉以南非洲不断发展的农村城镇地下水质量退化情况图

基本信息

批准号：
NE/L002078/1
负责人：
Daniel Lapworth
金额：
$ 13.26万
依托单位：
British Geological Survey
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2013 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FL002078%2F1
关键词：
Mapping groundwater quality degradation beneath

项目摘要

Groundwater is often more reliable and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water, and more resilient to climate variability. Many expanding urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are dependent on groundwater for water-supply. However, urban groundwater is impacted by pollution from latrines, domestic waste and industrial activities. The change from rural to urban landuse causes dramatic changes in groundwater recharge, as well as in water quality and demand. Despite government and NGO efforts to increase access to safe groundwater, the most vulnerable in these areas still rely on inadequate sources of deteriorating quality. Safe water is important for domestic use, economic activities and industry, as well as public services. Groundwater resources beneath growing rural towns in SSA are poorly understood compared to large cities (e.g. Lusaka, Lagos and Dakar) and there has been a recent focus on rural settings. Given the large numbers of smaller but rapidly growing rural, groundwater-dependent towns in SSA, the development of effective strategies to protect the resource from inevitable contamination is a priority. This requires this resource to be effectively characterised and for practical tools to be developed for mapping risk to groundwater resources that can be used across SSA. This proposal focuses on improving our understanding of the impact of urban development on groundwater quality in SSA. As part of this a groundwater risk mapping tool for use in different development scenarios will be develop and tested, enabling this approach to be used in other towns in SSA with minimal resources. As part of this work a comprehensive review of the current understanding, drawing on published and grey literature, of groundwater quality beneath urban centres across SSA will be assessed. An interdisciplinary pilot study will investigate groundwater quality beneath zones of contrasting development within a rural town and compare this with the quality of 'natural' water in adjacent rural settings. The comparison will be used to test the mapping approach. Zambia is a lower-middle income country in SSA, where it is estimated that around 30% of people don't have access to safe drinking water. This pilot study will include the collection of new microbiological and hydrochemical data. Water quality will be investigated in contrasting rainfall/recharge conditions to characterise contamination risk during intense rainfall. In-situ organic matter fluorescence techniques will be piloted as potential tools for tracking and screening for waste water pollution in groundwater. This study will test new methods and help develop a good scientific base for guiding research, policy and development for groundwater management rural towns in SSA. The outputs from this work will be novel, and have applications across SSA. This work will culminate in a workshop to disseminate and discuss findings with key stakeholders from Zambia and across SSA.

地下水通常比地表水更可靠，容易受到污染的影响，并且对气候变异性更具弹性。撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的许多不断扩大的城市地区都取决于地下水。但是，城市地下水受厕所，家庭废物和工业活动的污染影响。从农村到城市土地的变化会导致地下水补给以及水质和需求的急剧变化。尽管政府和非政府组织为增加获得安全地下水的机会而努力，但这些领域中最脆弱的人仍然依赖不足的质量来源。安全水对于国内用途，经济活动和工业以及公共服务非常重要。与大城市（例如卢萨卡，拉各斯和达喀尔）相比，SSA种植乡村不断的乡村城镇下面的地下水资源知之甚少，最近一直关注农村环境。鉴于SSA中大量较小但快速生长的农村地下水依赖地下水依赖的城镇，因此制定了保护资源免受不可避免污染的有效策略，这是当务之急。这需要有效地表征此资源，并需要开发实用工具，以将风险映射到可在SSA中使用的地下水资源。该提案的重点是提高我们对城市发展对SSA地下水质量的影响的理解。作为此的一部分，将开发和测试用于不同开发方案中的地下水风险映射工具，从而使这种方法可在SSA的其他城镇中使用，资源最少。作为这项工作的一部分，将评估当前对SSA城市中心下地下水质量的当前理解的全面审查。一项跨学科的试点研究将调查在乡村城镇内与发展的区域下的地下水质量，并将其与邻近农村环境中的“天然”水的质量进行比较。比较将用于测试映射方法。赞比亚是SSA的中低收入国家，据估计，约有30％的人无法获得安全的饮用水。该试点研究将包括新的微生物和水化学数据的收集。水质将在与降雨/补给条件相比的对比中进行研究，以表征强烈降雨期间污染风险。原位有机物荧光技术将被试用，作为跟踪和筛查地下水中废水污染的潜在工具。这项研究将测试新方法，并帮助建立一个良好的科学基础，以指导SSA地下水管理乡村城镇的研究，政策和发展。这项工作的输出将是新颖的，并且在SSA上都有应用。这项工作将在研讨会中达到顶峰，以与赞比亚和整个SSA的主要利益相关者进行传播和讨论。