Down to earth technology.

Abstract

There are constant problems with the water supply in northern Cote d'Ivoire. For example, wells have been abandoned because the pump stands are damaged and the wells contain no water during the dry season. Rural women usually can collect enough surface water during the rainy season, but during the dry season, they dig shallow wells for groundwater. Regardless of the water source, the water tends to be contaminated, resulting in diarrhea, schistosomiasis, and dysentery. Failed attempts in the past to drill productive wells (e.g, 50-60% of wells dug between 1973-1985 are inoperable) and the needs to find water sources have led researchers from Canada and the Cote d'Ivoire to develop a geographic information system (GIS) for the Marahoue River basin (12,000 square km). This basin receives little precipitation and the pre-Cambrian bedrock does not hold much water. This GIS system contains hydrological, geological, and geophysical data and remote sensing data collected from satellite. It can locate the best possible sites for drilling wells based on an analysis of fractures in the bedrock (the greater the density of clusters of fractures, the greater the probability of pinpointing productive water sources). Now GIS specialists can site 100 to 200 wells daily in the northern Cote d'Ivoire. This system is also capable of finding mineral deposits (e.g. diamonds are common in the Marahoue River basin). Despite the capabilities of this GIS system, water quality differs and pumping mechanisms still can become damaged. Nevertheless, this technology can be used to identify water sources in other developing countries, including countries in Africa, such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.