Comparison of DRASTIC and GOD models for assessing

groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Warri metropolis,

Southern Nigeria

BY

ABOR Chukwuma Stanley

March, 2015
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BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Groundwater being one of the most important natural resource for the sustenance of life is
exploited for human consumption and for use in both agricultural and industrial areas. Hence,
water is often treated for contamination by pollutants of different kinds: biological, chemical or
physical alike.
Groundwater lies at shallower depths and plays a tangible role in the hydrologic cycle. Shallow
water bodies are highly vulnerable to pollution due to interaction with pollutants found in situ or
existing as a foreign body (Boughriba et al., 2010).
Groundwater vulnerability to pollution can be defined as sensitivity of groundwater to an
imposed contamination load, which is determined by the intrinsic characteristic of the aquifer
(Duijvenbooden and Waegeningh, 1987).
Groundwater and surface water are vulnerable to pollution. The predominant factors responsible
for contamination of groundwater in Warri metropolis are human activities such as:
industrialization, agriculture (pesticide and herbicides as well as fertilizer applications), poor
waste management and effluents from septic tanks.
TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
The specific objectives of this study are to:
i.

generate GIS data layers needed for groundwater vulnerability to pollution,

ii.

determine groundwater vulnerability to pollution using DRASTIC and GOD GIS models;
and

iii.

compare the performance of these two models in relation to physicochemical tests.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATA REQUIRED

The research basically required secondary data. The datasets included; borehole data
(which includes geographical location, hydraulic conductivity and Impact to vadose zone data),
average annual rainfall, SRTM, geological map and administrative map.
Borehole dataset was used to generate depth to groundwater, hydraulic conductivity and Impact
of vadose layers respectively. Rainfall data was needed to produce the recharge layer and was
derived using NetLocClim software. SRTM (shuttle radar topographic mission) imagery of 90m
resolution was used to delineate slope percentage layer. Finally, soil media layer was used to
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determine soil characteristics and was be obtained by digitizing existing geological map covering
the study area.
The DRASTIC model was developed by Aller et al. (1987) and the equation for
determining the DRASTIC Index is
DrDw + RrRw + ArAw + SrSw + TrTw + IrIw + CrCw
Where represents D: Depth to water; R: Recharge; A: Aquifer lithology; S: Soil T: Topography;
I: Unsaturated zone; C: hydraulic Conductivity. r designates the ratings for the study area and
w is the weight for the parameter used.
The GOD model was developed by Foster in 1987 and the equation for determining its
index is
I = G*O*D
Where (G); Groundwater occurrence, (O); Overlying Lithology and (D); Depth to groundwater.
The groundwater occurrence equates to the Aquifer media parameter in DRASTIC, while
the overlying lithology equates to the Soil media parameter in DRASTIC.
Using both DRASTIC and GOD models, pollution vulnerability was determined using
the previously generated layers.
The models were validated with physicochemical tests on water samples taken from the
boreholes in the study area. Physicochemical parameters in groundwater considered are those
that fell outside acceptable WHO standards.
The resultant vulnerability maps from the GOD and the DRASTIC models were
statistically compared with physicochemical tests.
OUTCOME OF THE RESEARCH
This research work provided latest information on the vulnerability status of groundwater
in the study area using both DRASTIC and GOD models to produce pollution vulnerability
maps. Additionally, the research proffered the best of the two model for the study area, by
computing statistical non parametric tests between DRASTIC-physicochemical correlations and
GOD-physicochemical correlations.