Abstract
Groundwater is one of the most important water sources in arid and semi-arid areas. With the increasing world population and the water demand for agriculture and urban use, the need for water resources has increased, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, where groundwater resources play a significant role. To prevent the pollution of groundwater resources, various studies for their preservation and maintenance should be carried out, including a detailed plan for proper management of water resources and establishing a balance between water quality and how to use them. It becomes important to understand the spatial change of the quality of groundwater resources. In this study, Sabzevar plain, a typical region of semi-arid climate in Iran, was selected as a case study to assess the groundwater quality of the region, using data from 24 observation wells between 2015 and 2019. Using Arc GIS software, a map of groundwater quality parameters in the study area was prepared for quality assessment and comparison with existing international standards. The results showed that (except pH and HCO3−) the concentration of Sodium, Magnesium, and other anions and cations is higher than the corresponding WHO standard limit, suggesting that the study area is unsuitable for drinking and agricultural use. According to the Wilcox chart, 87.5% of the samples are in the C4S4 class while 8.33% are in the C4S3 class, showing the groundwater unsuitable for agricultural use due to its high salinity and alkalinity. Piper diagrams show that more than 50% of the samples are non-carbonate alkalis, indicating a very high salinity in the area. According to the pie chart, chlorine ion and sodium ion are the dominant anions and cations in the Sabzevar plain, respectively. The Schuler diagram shows that none of the samples examined were in a good class for drinking. Therefore, considering the importance of water for agricultural activities in the study area, it is recommended to have agricultural management solutions to prevent groundwater mixing with freshwater resources.
Highlights
Due to population growth in recent decades and climate changes caused by lack of rainfall and deduction of surface streams in arid and semi-arid regions, groundwaterConsidering the groundwater resources as the most reliable perennial source of freshwater (Lapworth et al 2012), understanding and properly utilizing groundwater can lead to the sustainable development of social and economic activities in a region, especially in arid and semi-arid regions
Haghiabi et al (2018) predicted the qualitative components of the Tireh river located in southwestern Iran using artificial neural network (ANN), group method of data handling (GMDH), and support vector machine (SVM)
Water hardness (TH), caused by the accumulation of salts due to the contact with geological formations (Patil and Patil 2011), is between 197 and 2846 mg/L with an average of 1077.5 mg/L, which is considered higher than the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Cotruvo 2017)
Summary
Due to population growth in recent decades and climate changes caused by lack of rainfall and deduction of surface streams in arid and semi-arid regions, groundwater. Considering the groundwater resources as the most reliable perennial source of freshwater (Lapworth et al 2012), understanding and properly utilizing groundwater can lead to the sustainable development of social and economic activities in a region, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran and South Africa, about 85% and 70% of drinking water are from groundwater resources, respectively. Groundwater resources are an important part of the primary sources of water supply (Godfrey et al 2019). Groundwater pollution in arid and semi-arid areas is a severe threat to drinking water
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