Assessment of groundwater quality for irrigation of Bhaskar Rao Kunta watershed, Nalgonda District, India

Abstract

Semi-arid region of Bhaskar Rao Kunta watershed groundwater quality was evaluated for suitability irrigation; in this situation twenty groundwater samples were collected at identical locations from deeper bore wells. The American Public Health Association (APHA) standard methods were followed and the concentrations of physicochemical parameters of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total hardness (TH), Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3-, SO42-, Cl- and NO3- analyzed. The results of the concentrations were interpreted and measured with different irrigation indexes like EC, sodium percent (SP), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), permeability index (PI) and Kelly’s ratio (KR). The interpreted results were indicated that the groundwater quality stands on EC values; 20 and 80% of the samples fall under medium to high salinity category in pre and post-monsoon seasons and stands on sodium percent (SP) values, 25 and 75% of the samples fall under excellent to good category in both seasons. The remaining indexes SAR, RSC and KR values stands on 100% of the samples and fall under the excellent and excellent to good category in both seasons. Hence, the indexes results were concluded that the quality of groundwater in general was suitable for irrigation. Key words: Water quality, irrigation, quality indexes.