Abstract
This investigation has been conducted to assess the suitability of ground waters in west Minia governorate for irrigation purposes. Thirty-three groundwater samples were collected from different sites, along Assiut the West Desert Road. These samples were analyzed for water quality criteria, namely electrical conductivity (EC), soluble cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+), anions (HCO3-, CO32-, Cl- and SO42-). The chemical parameters that control water quality such as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percent (SSP%), residual sodium carbonated (RSC), Kelley’s ratio (KR), potential salinity (PS), permeability index (PI), total alkalinity, total hardness, magnesium ratio were also calculated using standard equations. Results revealed that anions contents in the studied ground waters followed the sequence: SO42->Cl-> HCO3- whereas CO-3ion was not detected. On the other hand, the cations contents of the water samples followed the sequence: Na+> Mg2+> Ca2+> K+. In addition, the pH values of the studied water samples ranged between 6.9 and 7. 9. The analytical results indicated that 94 % of the groundwater samples can be classified as good for irrigation on bases of EC, SAR, RSC and SSP%. Both SAR and RSC values indicated no liability for sodicity hazard. However, groundwater samples had high salinity levels and low sodicity (C3–S1). Some other parameters, which were generally used for assessing water quality e.g. Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) and Relative Crop Yield Potential (RCYP), were calculated. GIS was used to create a water quality database including spatial distribution map for each parameter. The results obtained herein showed that about 21 % of the groundwater samples belong to No Restriction category (NR) while about 79 % from the total samples belong to the Low Restriction (LR) category. According to the RYPC values calculated for some crops that can be cultivated using the investigated waters, the following sequence is obtained: sugar beet (94) > wheat (74) > corn (33) > bean (13). Thus, it can be concluded that the studied groundwater can successfully be used for irrigation with special salinity control management i.e. leaching requirements and salt tolerant plants.
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