Groundwater Quality Assessment for Sustainable Drinking and Irrigation

Esmaeil Asadi,Shahaboddin Shamshirband,Kwok-Wing Chau,Eva Hajnal,Mohammad Isazadeh,Amir Mosavi,Saeed Samadianfard,Mohammad Firuz Ramli,Narjes Nabipour

doi:10.3390/su12010177

Abstract

Identification and management of the groundwater quality are of utmost importance for maintaining freshwater resources in arid and semi-arid areas, which is essential for sustainable development. Based on the quality of the groundwater in various areas, local policymakers and water resource managers can allocate the usage of resources for either drinking or agricultural purposes. This research aims to identify suitable areas of water pumping for drinking and agricultural harvest in the Tabriz aquifer, located in East Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. A groundwater compatibility study was conducted by analyzing Electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), Chloride (Cl), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Sulfate (SO4), Total hardness (TH), Bicarbonate (HCO3), pH, carbonate (CO3), the and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) obtained from 39 wells in the time period from 2003 to 2014. The Water Quality Index (WQI) and irrigation water quality (IWQ) index are respectively utilized due to their high importance in identifying the quality of water resources for irrigation and drinking purposes. The WQI index zoning for drinking classified water as excellent, good, or poor. The study concludes that most drinking water harvested for urban and rural areas is ‘excellent water’ or ‘good water’. The IWQ index average for the study area is reported to be in the range of 25.9 to 34.55. The results further revealed that about 37 percent (296 km2) of groundwater has high compatibility, and 63 percent of the study area (495 km2) has average compatibility for agricultural purposes. The trend of IWQ and WQI indexes demonstrates that groundwater quality has been declining over time.

Highlights

The decreased Water Quality Index (WQI) index procedure shows an increase in drinking groundwater, while an increasing trend indicates a reduction of drinking groundwater quality
The average value of the WQI index was determined after calculating the area of Thiessen polygons for each of the 39 studied wells based on the area affected by each of the wells
Identification and management of the groundwater quality are important for maintaining the freshwater resources in arid and semi-arid areas, which are essential for sustainable development

Summary

Introduction

Freshwater resources must be managed and protected [1]. Regulating and limiting freshwater usage for agricultural purposes has been one of the main efforts of local and national governments to protect this precious resource for sustainable development. Farming is notable as the biggest client of crisp water and a notable reason for the debasement of surface and groundwater assets and quality [2]. Groundwater assets are vital for financial improvement, in parched and semi-bone-dry areas [3]. The groundwater quality is the consequence of every one of those procedures and responses that follow up on water from the minute it is first gathered until the time it is stored in a well, which is regularly controlled by different physicochemical attributes [8]

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Results

Conclusion