Assessment of Groundwater Suitability for Drinking and Irrigation Purpose in the Dimbhe Command Area of River Ghod, Maharashtra, India

Geeta Pillai,I. A. Khan

doi:10.4236/gep.2016.412011

Abstract

The management of the subsurface and surface water resources is important for various purposes. Since the quantity and quality of water available for irrigation in India is variable from place to place, groundwater quality in the Dimbhe command area was evaluated for its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes by collecting 37 dug well samples during the post monsoon period of 2014. The suitability assessment was made by estimating pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and alkalinity besides major cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) and anions (, Cl-, , and ). Out of 37 groundwater samples, 5.41% represents good water, 62.16% indicate poor water, 29.73% indicate very poor water and 2.7% indicate water unsuitable for domestic purposes. Based on these analyses, irrigation quality parameters like, sodium absorption ratio, permeability index, Kelley’s ratio, soluble sodium percentage, residual sodium carbonate, %Mg, %Na, and Mg hazard ratio were calculated. Assessment of groundwater samples indicated that majority of them in both the seasons are suitable for irrigation purposes.

Highlights

Groundwater is a limited water resource, but requirement of water is increasing day by day
Since the quantity and quality of water available for irrigation in India is variable from place to place, groundwater quality in the Dimbhe command area was evaluated for its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes by collecting 37 dug well samples during the post monsoon period of 2014
General Parameters Analysis The values of pH in the groundwater samples collected from the study area varied from 7.06 to 8.80, indicating a slightly acidic to slightly basic nature

Summary

Introduction

Groundwater is a limited water resource, but requirement of water is increasing day by day. Where surface water is not available due to high slope area or feasible for consumption, the groundwater potential is suitable in quantity or quality. Even though the quantity and quality of water available for irrigation is different in several parts of the world [1]-[6] and many groundwater exploitation schemes in developing countries like India are designed without due attention to quality issues [7] [8] [9] [10]. A number of studies on groundwater quality with respect to irrigation purposes have been carried out in different parts of India [1] [2] [3] [7] [8] [9] [10]. Since groundwater is intensively used for drinking and irrigation purposes, an effort is made in this paper to determine the groundwater suitability for same

Results

Discussion

Conclusion