Determination of the Aquifer and Its Hydraulic Parameters Using Vertical Electrical Sounding, Borehole Log Data and Borehole Water Conductivity: A Case Study of Olbanita Menengai Area, Nakuru, Kenya

Abstract

Development of groundwater needs the capabilities to distinguish the different aquifer layers found in a region, and thereafter the parameters which can be used expressly to define the aquifer type. The past studies in the Olbanita sub-basin have accorded the area as having one aquifer, which has resulted into generalization of the aquifer parameters. The objective in this study is to map the main aquifer layer and determine its parameters. The use of modeled geoelectric layers from Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) data has been used in the study area to distinguish the major aquifer from the minor ones. There is noted an excellent correlation between the geoelectric layers and the lithologies as outlined by the driller鈥檚 log clearly delineating four aquifer stratums. The main aquifer is identified to be geoelectric layer 11 and 12, defined by a thickness of 30.18 m mainly of tuffs, and 17.39 m mainly of weathered phonolites. Hydraulic conductivity of the main aquifer averages value of 17.16389314 m/day, in consideration of the ranges 0.248690465 m/day to 74.62681942 m/day for the 31 VES points. For the aquifer breadth of 30.18 m, the Transmissivity values vary from a minimum of 57.32119 惟m2 to 53365.49 惟m2 and for 47.57 m breadth, the range is between 11.83021 惟m2 and 1390.921 惟m2. The variance of longitudinal unit conductance shows that 63.15 percent of the aquifer represented by one lithology is having lowest values of S (<1.0 惟鈭?), an indication that the resistivity values of these points are relatively high when compared to their corresponding breadths. Notably, where the geoelectric layer is represented by more than one lithologic layer, the longitudinal unit conductance has high values of S (~1.1 - 5.3 惟鈭?) at about 83.33 percent of the aquifer, thus giving a manifestation that a change in lithology has an implication in the aquifer characteristics. The transverse resistance values have a direct proportionality to both the aquifer layer thickness and the geoelectric layer resistivities. Evidently, using the close range of resistivities rec