ASSESSMENT OF SOIL CORROSIVITY AND AQUIFER PROTECTIVE CAPACITY OF CHUKUKU IN KUJE AREA COUNCIL, FCT, ABUJA, NIGERIA

Water is one of the most valuable natural resources vital to the existence of any form of life; an adequate supply of safe water for maintaining ecosystem that supports all life and for achieving sustainable development. As man‘s standard of living increase so does his need for consumption of water. However, the use of water has grown rapidly in modern times. Though, a significant portion of water resources have become unusable due to industrial and agricultural pollution. Diversions or transfer of watershed to other region have led to many ecological and human disasters This work involves using the vertical electrical sounding (VES) method to assess the soil corrosivity and aquifer protective capacity of chukuku Village, in Kuje area council FCT Abuja. A total of 12 VES using the Schlumberger Configuration were carried out in different parts of the study area. The obtained field data were analyzed and interpreted using Win-Resist software. The curves reveal that the area is characterized by 4-5 classes of geo-electric layers. Topsoil layer of thickness and resistivity values ranging from 0.7-1.7m and 80.8-176.6 ohms, lateritic clay layer ranging from 0.7-3.4 m and 17.4–81.8 ohms, weathered layer ranging from 0.9–1.7 m and 64.4-100.7 ohms, fractured basement ranging from 1.2–3.2 m and 138.3-223.2 ohms, and the fresh basement layer ranging from infinity in thickness and 715.6-6544.0 ohms and the corrosivity rating of the study area show slightly corrosive which ranges from 80-175 ohms. The results reasonably provide information on areas where industries can be sited and iron pipes can be laid in order to safeguard the hydrological setting for resident’s safety in the study area; the longitudinal conductance of the overburden units range from 0.1-0.44 mhos. Based on the results of the interpretation, it has been inferred that the area covered by the study has moderate groundwater potential.