Evaluation of Groundwater Quality Utilizing Integrated Physicochemical Parameters and Indexing Approaches

Abstract

Water is a vital natural component to human existence and also is necessary for many various fields. The research location is in a region prone to water scarcity due to lack of rainfall and poor distribution. The water condition for irrigation practices is a complicated problem that depends on the interactions of numerous aspects of groundwater management considerations under the principles of sustainability. To achieve the evaluation of groundwater quality for agriculture, this study utilized irrigation water quality indices (IWQIs), which include sodium percent (Na %), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), and magnesium hazards (MH). For that, 37 groundwater samples were obtained, and conventional analytical approaches were utilized to quantify the physical and chemical features. The physical and chemical features showed that the main ions contents were recorded as sequences: (Na + > Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ ) and (SO 42− > HCO 3− > Cl − ). The geochemical characteristics for the obtained groundwater samples showed Na-K-Cl-SO 4 and Ca-Mg-Cl-SO 4 water facies under effect of precipitation and rock-water interaction factors. The mean values of the IWQIs for Na%, SAR, PI, and MH showed, correspondingly, 63.17, 6.51, 71.94, and 47.82, respectively. Therefore, using physical and chemical properties and multi-indexing approaches to evaluate groundwater quality and its regulating processes is efficient and feasible.