Study of Shallow Groundwater in Al-Diwaniya City / South Iraq

Abstract

Al-Diwaniya city suffers from shallow groundwater levels, which cause serious problems on the foundation of builds in the area and affect the general health of citizens in residential areas. For investigating this problem, four different paths perpendicular to Shatt Al- Diwaniya were selected, along 11 hand-dug wells in the city to observe groundwater levels during a whole year (2019-2020). The work included observation boreholes water levels and comparing results with water levels in the Shatt al-Diwaniya. Along each of the four selected paths (A, B, C, and D), two boreholes are observed on each side of the Shatt al-Diwaniya. Depths of boreholes are from 6 to 12 m. All boreholes paths that represent shallow groundwater within residential districts. The water level of Shatt Al-Diwaniya and groundwater levels is monitored twice-per-month, especially over high and low water conditions within Shatt Al-Diwaniya. Hydrometric results showed a relationship between shallow groundwater and Shatt Al-Diwaniya levels in track A. The nature of this interaction along with the track A due to many local factors such as depth of water in Shatt Al-Diwaniya, amount of rainfall, factors of high water levels, conditions and climatic changes, soil factors and the current state of the deterioration of the sewage network in Diwaniya city. Finally, the results of the rest tracks indicated that the city is flooded with shallow groundwater due to the large sewage leakage in addition to the rainwater and that Shatt Al-Diwaniya does not affect groundwater in the area. Still, it works discharge groundwater in the city.