Assessment of groundwater quality of Al-Shagaya area (Kuwait) for irrigation and industrial purposes using water quality index and GIS techniques

Abstract

Groundwater samples and pumping test data were analyzed from three selected fields (Fields B, C, and D) of the Dammam limestone aquifer (Al-Shagaya, Kuwait) to investigate their aquifer hydrogeological properties and reveal the main geochemical processes. The suitability for irrigation and industrial use was assessed by using water quality index (WQI) and determining the agricultural quality. The pumping tests revealed a confined to semi-confined aquifer, with transmissivity ranging between 4000 and 1.5x10⁶ Igpd/ft, and a storage coefficient of 2 to 4x10⁻⁴. The aquifer salinity ranged from 2403 to 5672 mg/l with Na₂SO₄ and CaSO₄ as the main chemical types. The values of WQI indicated that 18% of groundwater samples were of very good quality while 82% of the samples were of acceptable quality. This study has found that the groundwater of this area can be used for industrial and irrigation purposes.