Abstract taken from 'Abstracts of theses and dissertations accepted for higher degrees in the Potchefstroom University for CHE, 1956-1975, Faculty of Science, pp. 49-50:
Research conducted over a period of seven years included: a preliminary survey of the quality of the water of available sources in the Swakop River; the levelling of the river bed from Okahandja to the coast, determining of the water level and systematic sampling of the sand-water; detailed investigations in problem areas by means of boreholes and sampling at varying depths; the placing of multi-point sampling points in boreholes at strategic places; and the systematic sampling of floodwaters over a number of years
A close resemblance between the quality of the flood-waters and of the sand- water was found in those parts of the river where the sand-water was not noticeably affected by mineralization processes
The quality of the flood-water changes gradually from a bicarbonate water in the upper reaches to a chloride-bicarbonate water at the coast. The sand- water, however, changes from a bicarbonate to a chloride-sulphate water at the coast
The composition of the dissolved salts in the sand-water as well as in the flood-water depends mainly on the processes of evaporation, precipitation and selective redissolving, of precipitated salts
These processes make it extremely difficult to determine the influence of geological formations on the quality of the water. The available data indicated that mineralization of sand-water in the Swakop River was mainly due to the concentration of dissolved salts as a result of evaporation
