EVERY intending property owner in Zambia considers it a necessity given that the water utility companies have failed to provide potable clean water to all the citizens.
An attempt to ignore providing it in an apartment literary translates into denying occupants of that apartment or residents of that community access to potable clean water.
Hence, construction of boreholes has become a norm for most households and communities in the country.
The practice had existed before the 1980s, but the construction of advanced boreholes became prominent in the late 1990s through the government and international support agencies like United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and Department for International Development (DfID), among others.
DfID is a United Kingdom government department responsible for administering overseas aid.
The goal of the department is to promote sustainable development and eliminate global poverty.
Since then, there has been an astronomical increase in the number of wells and boreholes constructed where the country depends on groundwater for domestic, industrial or agricultural use.
This is according to the Water Network.
With a lot of people accepting this as a better alternative to the failure by water utilities to provide water, the construction and consumption of borehole water pose severe danger to human health and the environment.
The proliferation of boreholes constitutes a long-term environmental problem.
Water from shallow boreholes is salty and dangerous for human consumption because it could cause typhoid fever and hypertension.
Domestic boreholes are affecting water production because it pollutes the water when it is abandoned and refuse dumped into it.
A World Water Day report by Principal Policy Strategist at Africa Political and Economic Strategic Centre observed that gradually, governments are joining the people in digging water boreholes and even appointing commissioners who channel funds for the project.
Most of these boreholes are exposed to underground pathogens and pollutants especially E-coli that is responsible for stomach upset that comes with diarrhoea and massive loss of fluids.
Underground, the water might also be exposed to natural radionuclides and nature’s occurring hazardous metals copper, lead, mercury and manganese, among others.
These heavy metals as they are called are toxic with carcinogenic properties.
Therefore, it is highly recommended and intrinsic that water from the boreholes is sampled for laboratory analysis and bio-chemical analytical before consumption.
The most common impact of water wells is the connection between shallow and deep aquifers, with the possibility to prejudice the water quality of the deep one.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be extracted using water well.
The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterisation of aquifers is called hydrogeology
This is common in water well drilling to install filters at every coarse level to improve the well productivity.
This malpractice causes a flux of water from layers with greater hydraulic potential, through the well casing, to the layers with lower potential.
This problem can be fixed with proper well design and proper building operations.
On the contrary, it is rather impossible to fix the problem on existing wells or boreholes.
The effects of boreholes on the environment and the scale depend on the local lithology and geology.
There might be a case of earthquake reported in the long run due to sinking of boreholes because of creating hollows in the aquifer as a result of over extraction.
An earthquake is a sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth’s crust or volcanic action.
Earthquakes are usually caused when an underground rock suddenly breaks along a fault.
This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.
When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little.
Eventually the water would be exhausted for forever, thus causing serious problems to the environment and human life.
The impact of the unregulated sinking of boreholes or wells includes creating scarcity drinking water, vanishing moisture in the soil as well as the fertility of the soil.
Tree roots which take out moisture from soil would be unable to perform and they will untimely die thus creating a desert.
Over sinking of boreholes in the same area may cause earthquakes or a small seismic wave may amplify to cause a huge earthquake in that region.
As people dig more boreholes and use the whole water present underneath the earth, there may become empty spaces between the layers of the earth.
A little change in those regions thereby may cause earthquakes or a small seismic wave may amplify to cause a huge earthquake in that region.
More boreholes may result in water scarcity if extensively used without steps taken for regeneration of water levels.
There is nothing bad in having boreholes, but people should not take out all the water. Ensure that ground water accumulates instead of mining the commodity.
Of late, there has been much discussion about whether tube wells or boreholes, drilling of drinking water is hazardous to the environment or is it a necessity?
From the lay man’s point of view there may be varied opinions.
However if ground water sustainability is destroyed by rampant drilling by individuals it will not be safe for the environment.
Addressing the problem of water scarcity includes planning more trees, create small ponds, use deep technology in farming and create small check dams harvesting rain water and make water holding tanks which are some of the solutions to addressing water shortage or drought.
Until next week stay blest!
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