Irrigation Quality Research Articles

WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT USING THE POLLUTION INDEX MODEL (PIJ) FOR IRRIGATION PURPOSES. A CASE STUDY: DOHUK VALLEY WATER IN NORTHERN IRAQ

A field survey was conducted for Duhok valley, fields and orchards in northern Iraq, where water is used for irrigation. Six sites were identified for collecting water samples starting from February 2021 until January 2022 to estimate both (pH, Electrical conductivity (EC25), chloride ions (Cl- ), bicarbonate (HCO3 - ) as well as irrigation parameters such as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), sodium percentage (% Na), permeability index (P.I), kelly ratio (K.R), Magnesium hazard (M.H) and potential salinity (P.S). The pollution index (PIJ) model was used to assess water quality for irrigation. The results of the current study indicated that the water quality index (PIj) values ranged between (0.9691 to 1.4559) and that 66.7% of the water samples were from the Lightly polluted water category, and the rest were from the good quality category for irrigation purposes. The relative deterioration of most of the irrigation water samples is attributed to the high concentration of bicarbonate ions (HCO3 - ) and the magnesium hazard (M.H), which reached (7.80) meq. l-1 and (84.0), respectively.

Hydrogeochemical Characterization of Groundwater Quality in Parts of Amroha District, Western Uttar Pradesh, India

The present work attempts to characterize groundwater quality and ascertain its suitability for drinking and agricultural practices using different indices. A total of 122 sub-surface water samples were collected from the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, India, in the pre and post-monsoon season 2018 (61 samples of each season). The quality of groundwater observed from the study region has a slightly acidic to alkaline character with moderately hard type water. The order of the dominant ions is Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg+ > K+ and HCO−3 > Cl− > SO42− > NO−3 > F− in the pre-monsoon season while Na+ > Mg+ > Ca2+ > K+ and HCO−3 > SO42− > Cl− > NO−3 > F− in the post-monsoon season. A few samples show a higher concentration of Nitrate and Fluoride. The correlation coefficient shows that EC is positively correlated with TDS, Cl−, Ca2+, Mg+, and Total Hardness. The WQI studies revealed that about 52.45%, 36.07%, and 11.48% samples denoted excellent, good, and poor water quality, respectively, in the pre-monsoon season. About 52.45%, 45.9%, 1.63% of groundwater samples fell under excellent, good, and poor water quality in the post-monsoon season. The Piper diagram depicts Ca–HCO3, mixed Ca-Na-HCO3, Na–Cl, and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl facies in the water samples. Chloro-alkaline indices show negative values, which indicates that most parts of the study area exist in the discharge zone and base ion exchange processes occurred in the area. The position of the sample on the Gibbs diagram revealed that the rock-water interaction and evaporation of dissolved formation are the major governing process of water chemistry. Irrigation water quality indices revealed that the water quality for irrigation uses is mainly excellent to permissible type. The result of the Corrosivity ratio shows that about 24.5% of groundwater of the study area can be transported only through PVC pipes.

Comparative Study on International Standards of Reclaimed Water Quality for Irrigation

Comparative Study on International Standards of Reclaimed Water Quality for Irrigation

Estimating water distribution of the rotating sprinkler with pulsating pressure on sloping land

Pulsating pressure plays an important role in improving the poor irrigation quality and the uneven water distribution caused by the terrain slope. Water distribution is one of the key factors in design of the sprinkler irrigation system, however, it is difficult to measure in practice. To provide appropriate technical parameters for the design of sprinkler irrigation system with pulsating pressure on sloping land, a mathematical model was established according to the water conservation principle and finite element idea, and its accuracy was experimentally verified. The model was applied to study the effects of terrain slope, sprinkler arrangement, sprinkler spacing and average pulsating pressure on water distribution on sloping land. The results showed that the water distribution was more favorable under the gentle terrain slope, when slope decreased from 25% to 5%, the uniformity increased from 74.47% to 86.22%. Sprinklers arranged in equilateral triangle and with the spacing close to R0 had the best water distribution uniformity, the uniformity coefficient (CU) of which was 11.43% and 8.75% higher than that in square and rectangular arrangement, respectively. The CU increased with the increase of the average pulsating pressure. However, the effect of increasing water pressure on promoting the uniformity of water distribution gradually decreases. Therefore, when using the Rainbird R5000 sprinkler on sloping land with pulsating pressure, it is suggested that the sprinkler irrigation systems should be arranged below the terrain slope of 20%, and operated at the average pulsating pressure of 300 kPa. The suitable sprinkler arrangement is the equilateral triangle, and with the spacing of 0.8R0 to 1.0R0. Keywords: sprinkler irrigation, water distribution on sloping land, estimation model, pulsating pressure DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20221502.6662 Citation: Fu B Y, Huang Y, Zhang L. Estimating water distribution of the rotating sprinkler with pulsating pressure on sloping land. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2022; 15(2): 39–47.

Assessment of groundwater quality for irrigation purposes in ilesha West local government, Osun State, Nigeria

This study assessed the suitability of different groundwater resources in a basement complex of Ilesha West Local Govt. Area (LGA) for irrigation purposes. A total of 207 water samples were collected from hand-dug wells, boreholes and springs during the peak periods of wet and dry seasons. The physicochemical characteristics (pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), Alkalinity, Hardness), basic cations, anions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3−, SO42−, Cl−, NO3−) and heavy metals (Pb2+, Cr2+, Fe2+ and As5+) present were determined. The results were subjected to irrigation quality models such as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Kelly ratio (KR), sodium hazard (SH), permeability index (PI) and magnesium hazard (MH). To reveal the hydro-geochemical facies of the groundwater, Piper and Durov diagrams were plotted using the geochemist workbench sheet (GWB) software. A maximum SAR value of 6.0197 was recorded in the hand-dug wells during the dry season and the mean concentration of Cr2+ was observed to be higher than the recommended limits for irrigation. The percentage suitability of the water sources for irrigation purposes are 76%, 94%, 46% and 96% for SH, PS, KR, and MH models, respectively. Piper and Durov's diagrams revealed Na++ K+ (80%), Ca+ (90%) and HCO3− ​+ ​CO3−, Cl−. as the dominant cations, and anions respectively. Additional Hydro-geochemical plots revealed intermixing of the cations and anions, suggesting the dissolution of carbonate and silicate minerals from the parent soil or rock. Generally, the groundwater in the study area is suitable for irrigation, but the sustainability based on quantity should be investigated.

Assessment of heavy metal concentrations in waste water irrigated vegetables

Shortage of good quality irrigation water in present changing scenario of climate forces farmers to use waste water for growing vegetables in urban and peri-urban areas which resulted in buildup of heavy metal in the food chain. Three commonly grown vegetables of city Multan; Onion, Brinjal and Tomato irrigated with waste water were selected to examine the heavy metal contents. The vegetables samples were collected from Haji Block Industrial Estate areas irrigated by waste water due to shortage of canal water. Total thirty samples of three vegetable were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the vegetable samples were contaminated with Pb, Cd and Ni. This study suggests that in future, waste water should be used after treatment to save the health of the masses. The re-use of waste water will help in proper management of soil health and will also save the soil water resources under present climatic conditions.

Assessment of Municipal Treated Wastewater Quality for Irrigation in Orathanadu Block of Tamil Nadu, India

Aim: The current study focuses on the threats to the environment and human health that relate to using treated wastewater produced from the municipal sewage treatment plant of Orathanadu for irrigation purposes.
 Study Design: For this purpose, samples were taken monthly from the outflow wastewater and grouped into seasons.
 Place and Duration of study: Municipal sewage treatment plant located at Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, during 2019.
 Methodology: The treated wastewater quality parameters such as pH, EC, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, five days biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and sodium adsorption ratio were measured monthly and grouped season-wise.
 Results: In treated wastewater, the minimal mean electrical conductivity values, total dissolved solids, five days biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and sodium adsorption ratio were 0.81 dS m-1, 515.20 mg L-1, 25.50 mg L-1, 14.85 mg L-1, and 1.59, respectively. The suitability for irrigation based on the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) was calculated with standard equations and found experimentally as 1.59, 1.62, 1.59 and 1.56 during winter, summer, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. To assess water suitability for irrigation, irrigation water classes are utilized for salinity hazard (EC) and sodium hazard (SAR), and samples were C3-S1 class in all four seasons. Furthermore, the data indicated a slight to moderate restriction on using this treated wastewater in irrigation due to chloride hazards.
 Conclusion: The results showed that treated wastewater meets national and international irrigation criteria and that treated wastewater can be used without restriction in light and medium-textured soils and in clay soils with leaching and drainage.

Groundwater quality assessment for irrigation use in the Godavari Delta region of east coast India using IRWQI and GIS

Abstract The present work was carried out in the deltaic region of the river Godavari in coastal Andhra Pradesh of southern India to evaluate the status of groundwater quality for irrigation. Groundwater is predominantly used in these productive agricultural fields. Saline water intrusion in fresh groundwater aquifers, which is mainly due to the excess withdrawal of groundwater, was recorded in the study area. A total of 80 groundwater samples were analyzed for physical and chemical parameters using standard chemical procedures. The groundwater mainly represents Na+–Cl− type, which shows the mixing of fresh water with saline water. The high correlation between Na+–Cl− and Mg2+–HCO3− explained that the intermixing of aquifer waters and the leaching of secondary salts influenced the region. Evaporation-fractional crystallizations are the main processes in the groundwater of the study area. The irrigation water quality index was calculated using different quality indices including Na%, sodium adsorption ratio, residual sodium bicarbonate (RSBC), permeability index (PI), magnesium hazard (MH), Kelly's ratio (KR), and potential salinity (PS), Cl−:HCO3−, Mg2+:Ca2+ and Na+:Ca2+ to estimate the suitability of groundwater quality for irrigation. Spatial distribution maps were prepared using raster interpolation in GIS. The assessment revealed that the areas covering 67.6% of electrical conductivity, 100% of total dissolved solids, 57.5% of Na%, 21.3% of RSBC, 66.3% of PI, 16.3% of MH, 65% of KR, and, 100% of PS required severe to moderate restrictions. Overall, the groundwater in the study region showed potential salinity due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities, and thus it must be monitored for sustainable agriculture.

Combined Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy logic Model for the process of groundwater treatment for irrigation and drinking purposes using filtration and other membrane process

The process of water purification or water filtration takes several stage approaches. In which, the membrane model process is an important role in filtration. This research work is done by considering double filtration method for filtration process and it is modelled by clustering of Artificial Neural Network and multiple linear regression approach. In this research work, ten different physical parameters and chemical parameters for designing our model. The measurement of groundwater quality for both irrigation and drinking water is a complex process due to various factors such as geology, hydrogeology, biology, etc. With the help of Neural network and fuzzy logic systems approach, we have studied the quality of water in various part of south India. For the process of double filtration process, we have taken rapid sand filter followed by slow sand filter. For the membrane process of water treatment, the membrane chosen for the research are reverse osmosis, microfiltration and nanofiltration.

Enhancing economic productivity of irrigation water by product value addition: Case of dates

Quality irrigation water is precious in agriculture under arid conditions. The value addition in agricultural product makes a new commodity outside the traditional frame to achieve higher returns with improved shelf-life and minimizes post-harvest losses. The aim of this study is to evaluate and quantify the improvements possible in water productivity through value addition in date cultivated under arid conditions in Oman. The primary and secondary data were collected through questionnaire surveys from farmers, sellers, factories and ministry extensions. The comparisons were made between the marketing of raw product against those with value-added, which were produced using the same quantity of resources; particularly irrigation water. The productivity was estimated by the ratio of agricultural benefits in kg to the irrigation water use in m3. The net-profit based productivity ratio improvements in Khalas and Fardh dates were 540% and 360% respectively for value-added dates packed with nuts. The lowest productivity ratio was observed in Khalas dates with saffron and other flavors (111%), and Fardh date paste (129%). In Khalas, the best improvement by the value-addition in average water productivity from the base-values of 0.57 kg/m3, or 0.63 OMR/m3 of the raw date were 2.06 kg/m3 or 2.28 OMR/m3 in date with nuts respectively while in Fardh, the same were 1.55 kg/m3 or 1.71 OMR/m3 respectively. The observed potential improvements in equivalent water productivity indicates the benefit of value addition would be vital for achieving agricultural sustainability goals under arid agriculture.

Optimization of the irrigation rate of agricultural crops based on the use of energy resources

The results of methodological studies on the calculation of the total water consumption and irrigation rate of agricultural crops, based on the analysis of the use of energy resources, the radiation balance of the arid zone of the Republic of Kazakhstan are presented. It is proposed to determine the actual total water consumption and the size of the irrigation norm of agricultural crops through the radiation coefficient of the area (KRd), which is determined by the functional dependence with the total lack of air humidity for the growing season (?d) and the radiation indicator of a specific area (R). The dimensions of irrigation norms obtained as a result of calculations are on average 838.9 m3/ha, which is 76.40-83.90 m3/ha higher than the experimental data calculated according to the formula of A. N. Kostyakov. The dimensions of the irrigation norm calculated at the Kordai, Taraz, and Tyuken weather stations are lower than the experimental data. The established fact gives reason to believe that for many years insufficient justification for the appointment of irrigation standards, and, consequently, the saving of irrigation water contributed to the degradation of irrigated massifs. The calculations of the total water consumption according to the indications of 6 regional weather stations were carried out. The calculation of the total water consumption indicator by the absolute mark does not differ from the calculated one by the method of S. M. Alpatiev by more than 10%. The same difference is shown by the calculation of the total water consumption indicator for the radiation indicator. The calculations of the radiation coefficient of the area show that there are energy opportunities to optimize not only irrigation norms and irrigation regime, but also the entire farming system of the arid zone of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which are primarily due to the imperfection of the operated irrigation systems, low quality of irrigation and other reasons.

Water Quality for Agricultural Irrigation and Aquatic Arsenic Health Risk in the Altay and Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia

Due to a lack of water-quality studies compared with water-quantity studies, an investigation into the factors influencing the hydrochemical composition of the rivers in the Tianshan and Altay Mountains was conducted with a model of multiple linear regression, while the suitability of the water quality for irrigation and the health risks of arsenic (As) were assessed with classical evaluation methods. The results suggest that 44.0% of the water samples from the Altay Mountains fell into the Ca-HCO3 category type, 48.0% of the water samples were of the Ca-HCO3-Cl type, and the remaining samples belonged to the Ca-Na-HCO3-Cl type. In the Tianshan Mountain area, 58.6% of the water samples fell into the Ca-HCO3 hydrochemical category, 20.7% of the water samples were of the Ca-HCO3-Cl type, and 20.7% of the water samples belonged to the Ca-Na-HCO3-Cl type. The major ions in the water were dominated by the control of the water and rock interaction. The interaction between water and rock in the Altay area controlled 69.2% of the overall variance in the As content in the river waters, and it dominated 76.2% of the variance in the Tianshan region. The river waters in the Altay and Tianshan Mountain regions are suitable for agricultural irrigation with excellent-to-good water quality. The results also suggest that there is no non-carcinogenic risk and that the carcinogenic risk is between the acceptable/tolerable risk range of 10−6–10−4, except only one sample in Tianshan Mountain region. The research methodology provided a reference for revealing the potential sources of toxic element pollution, and the results provided a scientific basis for regional agricultural irrigation, as well as a reference for decision making on the environmental protection of the watershed.

Control System of a Robotic Irrigation Machine Based on the Mamdani Fuzzy Algorithm

The article analyzes the tasks that can be solved by agricultural robots. The purpose of the study was the robotization of the "Fregat" type crop irrigation machine by the fuzzy control of irrigation technological processes, which allows to control the irrigation rate. It is proposed to use in a robotic irrigation machine the analog valve-setter of the speed of the last cart, powered by electricity. It is recommended to include a diagnostic subsystem in the fuzzy control system of the flow control valve, which includes sensors for measuring the soil moisture and the slope of the irrigation machine in various areas of the field. The mathematical model of fuzzy control of the irrigation machine is developed based on the software control of the water supply depending on the terrain of the field, the speed of irrigation machine and soil moisture to reduce water consumption and improve the efficiency and quality of irrigation. The Mamdani algorithm, which is implemented in the MATLAB package, is proposed as a fuzzy inference system. The formalization of the description of the indicators of the irrigation machine is carried out by specifying linguistic variables. The proposed mathematical model can be used in the design of control systems for other robotic agricultural machines.

Development of an automaton based on rigid logic to control the irrigation system

Managing the distribution of water resources for the southern regions of Russia is of great importance in connection with limiting the consumption of fresh water. The use of saline water can lead to soil salinization and negatively affect crop production. The article deals with the problem of constructing a sequential automaton for controlling the system of switching networks when watering plants on the example of the sanatorium “Rus” in the city of Anapa, Krasnodar Territory. The Mediterranean zone, where the city of Anapa is located, is characterized by a low level of precipitation, which leads to the need for artificial irrigation of plants. The existing irrigation system using a water tank truck based on the GAZ-53 is physically outdated, which required the development of a modern automated system. The flower alleys, located on the territory of the sanatorium, were structured in a tree-like form. The construction of a control device based on rigid logic is based on the Mealy automaton. A method for constructing a control system for a tree-like water supply network has been developed, which makes it possible to control the main, distribution and supply branches. A block diagram of an irrigation machine has been developed, which has a tree-like branching, which shows control signals and states of transitions. Synthesized logical equations for the control of the water supply system, using a blocking control system with feedback. It is proposed to use the Omron programmable logic controller and CX-One software as software and hardware. The distribution of the address space of the controller is shown. Simulation modeling of the system operation was carried out, which showed the correct logic of control over the work of water pressure supply in water pipelines. Implementation of the developed system will improve the quality of irrigation of plants and minimize the cost of irrigation.

Evaluation of corn crops drip irrigation quality at different versions of the tillering zone

Presents results of a study of the uniformity of distribution of irrigation water along the length of the drip lines at its pre-treatment in sand gravel and disc filters (typical) and hydrocyclone installation (experimental version) and the efficiency of water technology in the cultivation of corn. It was found that when using a sand-gravel and disc filter as a water treatment unit on a drip irrigation system, the coefficient of effective irrigation was 0.635, insufficient irrigation - 0.240, and excessive irrigation - 0.125. The use of hydrocyclone installation for water treatment, which combines the processes of capture of dispersed particles by the method of sedimentation in a centrifugal field and the filtration method provides an increase of the coefficient of effective irrigation to 0.715 and reduce the rates of under-and over-irrigation, respectively, to 0.20 and 0.085. Thus, increasing the uniformity of the distribution of irrigation water along the length of the drip lines ensures the regulation of irrigation of agricultural crops. In field experiments on corn cultivation with drip irrigation, an increase in grain yield was achieved by 9% when using an experimental version of the water treatment unit instead of the standard one on the irrigation system.

Effect Irrigation Quality and Mineral Fertilization on Barley Productivity (Variety 244) and Some Nutrients Availability

An experiment was conducted in fields of Agricultural Research office/Al-Dibuni Research Station in Clay Loam soil, to study the coexistence with irrigation salinity using different water qualities with a recommended mineral fertilizer by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, and evaluate the role of this fertilizer in maintaining the nutritional balance in soil and barley productivity. A Factorial Experiment Design was used According to RCBD design. The results showed that mineral fertilization of 100% fertilizer recommendation was significantly superior in all measured characteristics (nitrogen and phosphorus availability in soil, EC, plant height, leaf area, number of branches, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index) which gave (46.31, 27.29 mg kg−1, 5.59 dSm−1, 67.44 cm, 20.41 cm2plant−1, 7.66 branch plant−1, 44.08g, 3.16, 11.19 Mg ha−1, and 28.24%, respectively) compared with control treatment. The addition of irrigation different types affected on the measured characteristics, as the S1 treatment gave a significant values in each of (nitrogen and phosphorus availability in soil, EC, leaf area, number of branches, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index) which gave (40.27, 23.39 mg kg−1, 5.10 dSm−1, 16.97 cm2plant−1, 6.91 branch plant−1, 40.31 g, 3.02, 10.13 Mgha−1, and 29.98%) compared with S2 treatment. The results showed the double interaction F4S3 treatment had a significant effect in all the measured characteristics(nitrogen and phosphorus availability in soil, leaf area, number of branches, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index) which gave (48.61 and 28.97mg kg−1 and 20. 92 cm2plant−1, 8.06 branch plant−1, 45.75g, 3.22, 11.47 Mgha−1, and 28.07%, respectively) compared with F1S2 treatment, noting F4S3 treatment did not significantly of F4S1 treatment.

Determination of Surface Water Quality for Irrigation in Dinajpur

A research was carried out to assess the suitability of surface water for irrigation purposes. For this reason, 56 samples of surface water were collected from each union of Dinajpur sadar upazilla, Dinajpur. The analysis was included pH, EC, TDS, Ca, Mg, S, P, Na, K, Cl- and HCO3- to evaluate the suitability of surface water for irrigation purposes. Almost all the water samples were within the recommended pH value for irrigation and a great impact on crop production. With respect to electrical conductivity (EC) samples were low to medium salinity. For total dissolved solids (TDS), all samples were considered as freshwater for irrigation. On the basis of Ca, Mg, S, P, Na, K, Cl- and HCO3- all samples could safely be used for irrigation and would not affect the soils.

Seasonal Variation of Groundwater Quality for Irrigational uses in Gadilam River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India

The present research work pertains to the Gadilam river basin groundwater quality for irrigation uses with respect to the Archaean formation, the Quaternary formation, the Tertiary formation and the Cretaceous formation. Experiments were carried out for two seasons (rainy season and summer season) for two successive years (November 2018 and June 2019). Overall, 120 groundwater samples were collected from the Gadilam river basin, excluding the reserved forest area. The 50 samples were collected from the Archaean formation, 34 samples from the Quaternary formation, and 35 samples from the Tertiary Formation. The remaining sample is from the Cretaceous formation. Based on the obtained analysed data, the following agricultural water quality parameters were calculated using the following expressions: The irrigational quality parameters are used, such as sodium percentage (Na%), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Kelly’s ratio (KR), permeability index (PI), magnesium ratio (MR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), and potential salinity (PS) are calculated and assessed for irrigation purposes.

Chemical characteristics, evolution, and quality of groundwater and processes controlling its fluoride concentration features: case study of a typical high-fluoride areas in the Southwestern Shandong Plain, China.

In this study, the groundwater (GW) in the high-fluorine area of the Southwestern Shandong Plain was divided according to the characteristics of high Na% (> 75%), and its water chemistry characteristics and causes were discussed separately, and the hydrochemical process of the formation of high-fluorine GW was determined. Finally, the GW quality of the study area was evaluated. The results proved that silicate hydrolysis can significantly promote the release of F- in fluorine-containing minerals; high %Na can be used as one of the early-warning conditions for judging high-fluoride areas. To this end, 132 GW samples were collected from 66 wells during the dry and wet seasons. The study area was found to have weakly alkaline GW (pH 7.1-8.9) and could be divided into high %Na areas (HNA) and non-HNA. GW exhibited different hydrochemical characteristics between HNA and non-HNA. In non-HNA, total hardness (TH) exceeded 200mg/L, and total dissolved solids (TDS) ranged from 514.1 to 5246.1mg/L; in HNA, TH was less than 200mg/L, TDS ranged from 552.8 to 1298.3mg/L, and Na+ increased with TDS, whereas Ca2+ and Mg2+ contents were low. The main water type in HNA was HCO3-Na and in non-HNA was SO4·Cl-Ca·Mg and SO4·Cl-Na. The study area is experiencing serious fluoride pollution. GW in HNA is mostly controlled by carbonate and silicate hydrolysis and evaporation, whereas GW in non-HNA is controlled by dolomite dissolution and cation exchange in the main. Moreover, GW in HNA has significantly been altered by albite hydrolysis, which produces Na+ and HCO3- and triggers various reactions promoting the release of F- from fluorine-containing minerals (FCM). Regarding the water quality for irrigation, GW in HNA was found to be less suitable than that in non-HNA. Nevertheless, in terms of the water quality index (WQI), GW is moderate for drinking and poor for irrigation. Therefore, extensive attention should be paid to the exploitation and management of high-sodium GW in the plain area.

Hydrochemical characteristics and water quality indices‐based assessment of River Kali for agricultural irrigation in northern India*

AbstractHigh‐quality water is required to produce a greater crop yield. River water is a major source of irrigation; however, in several densely populated countries, it is severely polluted due to anthropogenic activities. We aim to assess the Kali River water quality from 17 sampling stations using hydrochemical characterization in western Uttar Pradesh during the pre‐ and post‐monsoon seasons. The suitability of river water quality for agricultural irrigation was determined by water quality indices such as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium percentage (Na%), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), permeability index (PI), magnesium ratio (MR), and Kelley's index (KI). Results of the study showed that water quality in terms of pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, Cl−, SAR, and MR is moderately suitable for agricultural irrigation. However, only 64.7% (NO3−N), 88.2% (HCO3−), and 70.6% (B) samples in pre‐monsoon and 70.6% (NO3−N), 100% (HCO3−), and 64.7% (B) samples in post‐monsoon were acceptable for irrigation. In addition, 94.1%, 23.5%, and 70.6% of samples in pre‐monsoon and 82.4%, 17.6%, and 23.5% of samples in post‐monsoon analysed for Na%, RSC, PI, and KI, respectively, were found suitable for irrigation. The analysis of selected water quality parameters and water quality indices shows that Kali River water is polluted at the downstream side, and its suitability for agricultural irrigation varies with the season.