Water Practice and Technology (Nov 2022)
An evaluation of groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and irrigation uses under the GIS framework
Abstract
This study reported the results of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes in Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India. Twelve parameters, namely pH, TDS, TH, sodium (Na+), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl−), sulfate (SO42−), bicarbonate (HCO3−), nitrate (NO3−), and fluoride (F−) were evaluated and the Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated. Based on the WQI, 31.57% and 68.43% of samples fall in excellent and good drinking water quality. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR: 5.75–33.8), magnesium hazard ratio (MHR: 0.21–0.75), percent sodium (%Na: 31.34–72.84), residual sodium carbonate (RSC: 139–770), potential salinity (PS: 18.5–90), and Kelley Ratio (KR: 0.9–3.13) were calculated. The SAR, %Na, MHR, and KR indicated that most of the groundwater is suitable for irrigation. In addition, the inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method was also employed to determine the spatial distribution of groundwater quality in the form of maps using ArcGIS software. The Pearson correlation matrix has been calculated to analyze the relationship between the water quality parameters. Gibbs plots have shown that evaporation and rock weathering are primary processes responsible for affecting the hydrochemistry of groundwater. Piper plots suggested that maximum groundwater samples are (HCO3−–Na+), (Na+), and (HCO3−) types. HIGHLIGHTS The groundwater quality for drinking was compared with the BIS and WHO by evaluating the WQI in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana, India.; To analyze groundwater for irrigation, SAR, MHR, %Na, RSC, PS, and KR were calculated.; Piper trilinear, Gibbs diagrams, and spatial distribution maps were plotted to monitor groundwater's hydrochemistry.; The groundwater of the Kurukshetra can be used for drinking and irrigation after some primary treatments.;
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