Graduate Research Collaboration with the Water Research Institute to provide Potable Water Supply to Selected Communities in Ghana

The Water Research Institute is a Government Institution of Ghana set up by an act of parliament to conduct research into aspect of water resources (both living and non-living) in order to provide scientific and technical information and services as well as strategies for the sustainable development utilization and management of such resources for the socio-economic advancement of the country. Through one of our educational programs, we realized the need to support geoscience graduate students on their research work by engaging them on field activities aimed at empowering them with the needed skills and expertise to carry out their thesis work. In the light of this, twenty (20) students were selected from three universities in Ghana namely University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology to participate in four groundwater exploration projects where electrical and electromagnetic methods were employed. Students participating in the program receive training and work on team data collection, analysis and interpretation. We will discuss the major findings, challenges and the success that this program has brought in providing potable water supply in especially areas perceived as difficult terrain to intercept groundwater resources alongside the of graduate capacity building in earth science.