Evaluation of the Groundwater Quality for Irrigation: Case Study of Hilla district, Babylon Province, Iraq

Abstract

A crisis of water scarcity in the world encouraged researchers, especially in the arid areas to know the nature and quality of all its sources regardless of surface water. The groundwater evaluation for irrigation was suggested by using the model of Water Quality Index for Irrigation (WQIIR) in the ArcMap/GIS Software. This model was applied to 48 wells distributed throughout the Hilla district, Babylon, Iraq. The samples of EC, Ca+2, Mg+2, Cl−1, Na+1, HCO3−1, and SAR for groundwater were collected from these wells during wet and dry seasons in 2016. The generated maps in GIS for the WQIIR model in both seasons were divided into categories based on restriction’s groundwater use for irrigation. These categories consisted of Severe Restriction (SR), High Restriction (HR), Moderate Restriction (MR), Low Restriction, and No Restriction. The areas values and their classification of restriction’s groundwater use for irrigation related to the five categories that resulted within the generated maps in GIS using the WQIIR model in the wet season (in km2) were: 42.79 (SR), 407.05 (HR), 377.77 (MR), 32.39 (LR) and 0.23 (NR) respectively and for the dry season were as follows: 42.79 (SR), 407.05 (HR), 377.77 (MR), 32.39 (LR) and 0.23 (NR) respectively. The areas and the classification categories of restriction groundwater for irrigation calculated based on the values resulted from the WQIIR model have shown variation in the dry and wet seasons.