ABSTRACT
Karkams is a small village in the semi-arid, remote western region of South Africa. It depends entirely on groundwater, which is relatively quite saline. The average electrical conductivity from the three production boreholes is 250 mS/m. Three injection runs were carried out using filtered water from the ephemeral river that runs past one of the boreholes. This borehole, which is now used for injection and abstraction, has a sustainable yield of 6.5 m3/day or 2 400 m3/yr without artificial recharge. During the 2001 injection run which lasted 138 days, 4 906 m3, or twice the borehole’s sustainable yield was injected. An additional benefit of introducing this fresh water to the aquifer, is that it improves the groundwater quality. The injection tests showed that water can be injected at relatively high rates into low-permeability fractured aquifers, and that this can have a significant effect on groundwater quality.
