Assessment of water quality and challenges for vegetable irrigation in Greater Bandung Area, Indonesia

Abstract

The high demand of water mainly used for industry and domestic purposes puts pressure on water for agriculture. In addition, the change of massive land use and poor sanitation condition affect the availability of water sources and quality for irrigation. These are very important due to the increase of consumer needs for good, healthy, and safe food, especially for raw vegetables. This study identified water sources and then examined and assessed water quality for raw vegetables irrigation in Greater Bandung Area (GBA) as one of the main vegetable producers in West Java Province. This produced around 2.26-million tons of vegetables in 2019 whose harvest was distributed for local and regional consumption. The research was conducted by field surveys in four vegetable plantations having about 350 farmers, spreading over 3 regencies, Bandung City (city boundary), West Bandung Regency, and Bandung Regency. Water quality was analysed based on National Water Quality Standard Class II and other parameters such as SAR (Sodium Adsorption Ratio), RSC (Residual Sodium Carbonate) and %Na. Field survey showed that farmers used different water sources for agriculture, namely groundwater, springs, lake, and greywater. Assessment of water quality using Pollution Index method showed that the dominant water source was slightly polluted with pollutant parameters of conductivity, BOD, %Na, ammonia, chloride, and sulphate exceeding the standards. It showed possibility of domestic wastewater contamination to irrigation water source. Based on the measured parameters, water used for irrigation, even groundwater, was polluted and might cause potential health risk for consumer.