Abstract
In many parts of the world, groundwater quality is decreasing due to urbanization industrialization and use of agricultures in rural areas. This subject has formed an urgent need to determine the suitability of groundwater for various purposes. The aim of this study is to determine a groundwater index for groundwater use for irrigation in agriculture. The study is carried out in an agricultural area; near Al Kufa city, North of Al Najaf province, Iraq. Many chemical variables are used in this model, including (total dissolved solids TDS, electrical conductivity EC, sodium Na, potassium K and iron Fe), in addition to some of the heavy metals (cadmium Cd, lead Pb, chromium Cr, and nickel Ni), that also added to the index. The weight’s parameters are determined using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and classified into five groups based on the human health significance of these parameters and negative effect on agriculture. The result of this study indicates that the water quality index (WQI) records values between (0 and 4.33), and in which the value of (2.16) represents the limit between unpolluted and polluted groundwater. This study confirms that all groundwater samples over the study area are suitable for agriculture. The final WQI values are exported to ArcMap environment to prepare the final WQI maps of study area.
Highlights
The deficiency of fresh resources has become a critical apprehension worldwide
The water quality index (WQI) and geographical information system (GIS) showed a great potential in the assessment of water for multi-purpose usage
This study finds out that the WQI index together with GIS can help the decision makers in the assessment and management of groundwater, and it can be considered as useful tools to choose less polluted areas for wells drilling
Summary
The deficiency of fresh resources has become a critical apprehension worldwide. Physical and chemical parameters play significant characteristics in assessing the water quality. Geochemical studies of groundwater provide a better understanding of possible changes in quality (Bouderbala 2017) Such studies integrate a set of physical and chemical variables to develop a WQI, where a single number which represents the level of water quality, derives from a large number of water parameters (Patrick and William 2013). This process makes the results more and rapidly understood for decision makers to evaluate the quality and potential risk of a given water body, based on various parameters (Tyagi et al 2013).
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