Groundwater contamination apportionment in Beida-Bordj rural territory, northeast Algeria, using the nitrate pollution index (NPI) and groundwater pollution index (GPI)

Abstract

Most of the time, too much use of artificial fertilizers in rural areas, especially nitrogen fertilizers used to make crops grow faster, causes nitrate levels in groundwater to rise. In the Beida-Bordj area in northeast Algeria, groundwater is the main source of water for agriculture and drinking. Because of this, the quality of groundwater is very important. Therefore, nitrogen pollution in groundwater, which is one of the most important environmental problems, needs to be looked into. Therefore, evaluating groundwater contamination to protect human health was the primary focus of this investigation. As a result, 111 samples were taken in May 2022 from wells in different parts of the study area for physical and chemical research. Therefore, the nitrogen pollution index (NPI) and the groundwater pollution index (GPI) have been used to measure how clean groundwater is. The results show that the groundwater in the area that was tested is alkaline. Based on their average values, the abundance of cations and anions is as follows: Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+; and SO42− > Cl− > HCO3− > NO3−, in that order. The estimated NPIs ranged from – 1 to 4.5, with 0.92 being the average. Overall, the NPI data showed that only 25% of groundwater samples were clean, and the other 75% were dirty. The GPI readings ranged from 6.3 to 0.4, with an average of 1.2. This means that only 54% of the samples of groundwater from the study area were safe to drink. According to analyses of water quality parameters like SAR, SSP, RSC, PI, MH, and KR, the majority of groundwater samples from the research region are suitable for irrigation, because they fall into the "good" or "suitable" quality classes. This study's findings offer some intriguing suggestions for lowering pollution levels and bolstering groundwater management strategies for the future.