Abstract
Narail Sadar Upazilla is a major agricultural productive region of Narail District, Bangladesh. The crop production here significantly depends on the Chitra River water for irrigation. The present study was undertaken with an aim to evaluate the usability of this river water for irrigation purpose during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon. Sampling was conducted three times in each season both in high tide and low tide. The collected samples were analyzed for some physicochemical parameters including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solid (TDS), major cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) and major anions (HCO3−, PO43−, SO42−, Cl− and NO3−). The calculated chemical indices’ values for the collected water samples during pre-monsoon indicate that this river water is chemically suitable for irrigation during pre-monsoon with respect to sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and permeability index (PI). The values of all chemical indices declare this river water fitness for use in irrigation both in monsoon and post-monsoon. According to Wilcox diagram, all of the water samples irrespective of tide and sampling stations fall within “permissible to doubtful” category during pre-monsoon while the water samples collected in both tide from all stations fall within “excellent to good” category during monsoon and post-monsoon. The United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) diagram certifies this river water as C1-S1 (low salinity along with low sodium level) type during monsoon and post-monsoon which makes the river water suitable for use in irrigation in these two seasons while the water is mostly C3-S1, C3-S2 and C3-S3 (high salinity along with low to high sodium level) type in pre-monsoon which makes the river water restricted for use in irrigation in this season.
Highlights
In pre-monsoon electrical conductivity (EC) varies with an average value of 1028.67 ± 320.81 for high tide and 941.47 ± 300.87 for low tide, in monsoon 166.20 ± 0.87 for high tide and 162.40 ± 1.66 for low tide and in post-monsoon 216.87 ± 6.76 for high tide and 205.47 ± 8.05 for low tide
The water quality parameters including pH, EC, total dissolved solid (TDS), Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3−, SO24−, Cl−, NO3− and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) estimated for all of the water samples satisfy the value limit given by DoE, 1997 and FAO, 1985 for irrigation purpose during monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon indicating its suitability for use in agriculture
During pre-monsoon the values of SAR, residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and permeability index (PI) indicate that this river water is suitable for use in crop irrigation purpose while the river water is identified as “unsuitable” with respect to Kelly’s index (KI) and “doubtful to unsuitable” with respect to Na%
Summary
At low concentrations some cations are beneficial for crop while at high concentration they can alter the irrigation water quality and soil which exerts toxic effects to plants and the management task becomes more difficult (Mitra et al, 2007). The river water quality is mainly affected by anthropogenic process like industrial wastewater discharge, agricultural runoffs etc. Industrial wastewater discharge into water bodies is one of the constant anthropogenic polluting sources while surface runoff is one of the non-point polluting sources which is mainly influenced by climate and topography of the area (Shrestha & Kazama, 2007; Singh et al, 2004). This study was conducted with an aim to assess the irrigation water quality of Chitra River that will support the crop production here and help to enlarge the local and national economy in turn
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