Abstract
This study investigates the suitability of Garmat Ali river (Iraq) for irrigation uses. Two stations were chosen: station A; far from any polluted water discharge point, and station C; near to a very contaminated water discharge point). Water samples were picked up and tested for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chlorine, and nitrate. Three samples were collected in January and March 2019 from each site, to reflect the wet season in Iraq. Besides the classification of water quality parameters of Garmat Ali river for watering, other parameters were also calculated, such as sodium adsorption ratio, soluble sodium percentage, exchangeable sodium percentage, magnesium hazard, kelly ratio, permeability index, and potential salinity. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines, the overall results showed that the salinity and chlorine were within the range that causing severe problem to plants. In addition, sodium toxicity and hazard were classified the river water as unsuitable for irrigation. Potential salinity was under the class of unsuitable for irrigation. Bicarbonate hazard was under the category “slight to moderate”. However, the remaining parameters were within the accepted range. Most of the contaminants were higher in the polluted station.
Highlights
The main water resources in the world are the rivers, glaciers, ponds, lagoons, rainfall, and ground water
After inundation of the southern marshes in 2003, the East Hammar marsh was mainly received the water from Euphrates river and entering Garmat Ali river Shatt Al-Arab river that flows into the Arabian Gulf
Based on the US salinity diagram that is used to evaluate the rate of infiltration according to sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and electrical conductivity (EC) values [4, 5], all samples in this work were within the class C4-S2, which indicated that the water of Garmat Ali river is characterized by high salinity and low sodium
Summary
The main water resources in the world are the rivers, glaciers, ponds, lagoons, rainfall, and ground water. Many studies have been reported to investigate the quality of surface and ground water in Iraq and other countries for irrigation This evaluation is very important, especially in arid and semi-arid areas that suffer from water scarcity problem, to specify the characteristics of water based on standard limits. The water quality (WQ) of Garmat Ali river has been examined during 2015-2016 based on the temperature, salinity, and pH [8], and the river water classified as a worse. These parameters were not enough for full evaluation. Turbidity (Tu) and dissolved oxygen (DO) are assessed
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