Assessment of the groundwater suitability for irrigation near Al Kufa City and preparing the final water quality maps using spatial distribution tools

• Published in: Environmental earth sciences Vol. 79; no. 13; p. 330
• Main Authors: Al Maliki, Ali A., Abbass, Zainab D., Hussain, Hussain M., Al-Ansari, Nadhir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analytic hierarchy process; Biogeosciences; Cadmium; Chromium; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Environmental Science and Engineering; Geochemistry; Geology; Geoteknik; Groundwater; Groundwater irrigation; Groundwater pollution; Groundwater quality; Heavy metals; human health; Hydrology/Water Resources; Industrialization; Iraq; Iron; Irrigation; Lead; Metals; Nickel; Original Article; Parameters; Potassium; Rural areas; Sodium; Soil Mechanics; Spatial analysis; Spatial distribution; Terrestrial Pollution; Total dissolved solids; Urbanization; Water analysis; Water pollution; Water quality; Water sampling; Iraq; Spatial analysis; Water pollution; Groundwater; Water quality
• DOI: 10.1007/s12665-020-09060-w
• ISSN: 1866-6280; 1866-6299

In many parts of the world, groundwater quality is decreasing due to urbanization industrialization and use of agricultures in rural areas. This subject has formed an urgent need to determine the suitability of groundwater for various purposes. The aim of this study is to determine a groundwater index for groundwater use for irrigation in agriculture. The study is carried out in an agricultural area; near Al Kufa city, North of Al Najaf province, Iraq. Many chemical variables are used in this model, including (total dissolved solids TDS, electrical conductivity EC, sodium Na, potassium K and iron Fe), in addition to some of the heavy metals (cadmium Cd, lead Pb, chromium Cr, and nickel Ni), that also added to the index. The weight’s parameters are determined using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and classified into five groups based on the human health significance of these parameters and negative effect on agriculture. The result of this study indicates that the water quality index (WQI) records values between (0 and 4.33), and in which the value of (2.16) represents the limit between unpolluted and polluted groundwater. This study confirms that all groundwater samples over the study area are suitable for agriculture. The final WQI values are exported to ArcMap environment to prepare the final WQI maps of study area.