Assessment of Groundwater Quality Status for Irrigation in Thal Area

Volume 5 - Issue 5

Mohammad Shafiq¹*, Abdul Ghaffar Sagoo², Mohammad Arif³, Mohammad Yousaf², Mohammad Zafar², Naeem Akhtar², Khalid Nazir⁴ and Abdul Hannan⁵

Received: December 15, 2018;   Published:December 20, 2018

DOI: 10.32474/CIACR.2018.05.000225

Full Text PDF

To view the Full Article   Peer-reviewed Article PDF

Summary

The problem of ground water quality has become more imperative than the quantity, as the ecological glitches are getting more severe in various zones of the globe. Numerous factors such as pollution due to agricultural, industrial and human activities, poor groundwater governance and other ecological surroundings in which the water ensues to stay or move and intermingle with ground and living organisms. These impacts prominently on the ground water quality of specific zone. Therefore, a field study was planned in Land Reclamation Sub-Division Thal in 2016 to assess the quality of ground water being pumped. Thal Sub-Division includes Layya, Kundian, Ahmad Pur Sial and Bhakkar districts. Overall 370 water samples each in pre and post Mon soon season 2016 were collected. The water samples were analyzed for their quality characteristics. Data for quality of irrigation were analyzed, from electrical conductivity (EC) point of view : fit [(EC< 1 dS m^-1), marginally fit (EC = 1-1.25 dS m^-1) and unfit (EC > 1.25 dS m^-1)]; from residual sodium carbonate (RSC) point of view, fit (RSC < 1.25 me L^-1), marginally fit ( RSC=1.25-2.5 me L^-1) and unfit (RSC >2.5 me L^-1) and in case of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), fit (SAR< 6 mmol L^-1)½, marginally fit (SAR=6-10 mmol L^-1)1/2 and unfit (SAR >10mmol L^-1)1/2. The results indicated that 47% water samples were found unfit in the study area for irrigation purpose. The deleterious effects of salts could be mitigated by mixing of brackish water with canal water in different extents and/or spasmodic flushing of soil profile with decent feature irrigation water. This practice may be carried out periodically to avoid economic yield losses.

Keywords: Brackish water; Thal area Bhakkar; EC; SAR; RSC; Ground water

Abstract| Introduction| Materials and Methods| Results| Discussion| Conclusion| References|