Assessment of Water Quality Index for the Groundwater in the Upper Cheliff Plain, Algeria

Abstract

Assessment of groundwater suitability for drinking and agricultural purposes was carried out in the plain of upper Cheliff. The study area covers an area of 375 km2 and lies in a semiarid climate. Groundwater is the major source for domestic and agricultural activity in this area. Groundwater samples were collected from 19 wells during dry and wet periods in 2012, and they were analyzed for major cations and anions and compared with drinking and irrigation specification standards. The concentration of the majority of chemical constituents exceeds the standards of WHO as a result of various sources of pollution. It indicates the dominance of groundwater types: Ca-Mg-Cl, and Ca-Mg-HCO3. Suitability of groundwater for drinking was evaluated based on the water quality index; it shows more than 60% of samples have very poor quality for dry and wet periods, which means water is severely contaminated and unsuitable for drinking purpose. In terms of the irrigation usage, generally groundwater is suitable for both periods in the major part of the plain. The Mineralization processes in this area is determined by the lithology of the aquifer (exchange water-rock), by anthropogenic factors (discharges of urban sewage, use of fertilizers) and also by evaporation (semi-arid climate).

Evaluation of the quality of groundwater for its appropriateness for drinking purposes in the watershed of Naâma, SW of Algeria, by using water quality index (WQI)

“…Analysis of the quality of groundwater is instrumental in the appropriateness evaluation of water for different (4)…”

“…Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water for most of Algeria's population, especially in rural areas [3]. The amount of water extracted from groundwater is about 70% of the water used for Algeria's drinking and irrigation services [4]. Dependence on groundwater has increased due to changing lifestyles, urbanization, and population growth.…”

“…Some studies have also been accomplished in Algeria to evaluate the quality of water surface and groundwater of many aquifers for irrigation and drinking purposes using the water quality index [4,[33][34][35][36][37]. The region of Naâma is the chief town of the Naâma Wilaya, which is situated in the southwest of Algeria.…”

Monitoring of groundwater quality for drinking purposes using the WQI method and its health implications around inactive mines in Vemula-Vempalli region, Kadapa District, South India

“…The spatial distribution map of the water quality index is shown in Fig. 9; it depicts that most of the study areas fall into the good category as denoted in green color, and some eastern parts show poor water quality shown in red color in this part may cause extensive irrigational practices and extensive groundwater exploitation main responsible factors (Ewaid and Abed 2017;Abdelkader 2017).…”

“…The present attempt has been made to compute WQI based on physicochemical data. WQI is stated as a reflection and rating by the impact of various water quality parameters (Bouderbala 2017;Chaturvedi and Bassin 2010). Most of the researchers use these indices for suitability by human consumption.…”