Groundwater quality assessment for different uses using various water quality indices in semi-arid region of central Tunisia

Abstract

The Hajeb Layoun-Jelma basin, located in the central Tunisia, is the principal source of water supply for Sidi Bouzid and Sfax region. The over-abstraction from this groundwater, since 1970, and the intensive agriculture activities led to the degradation of the water quantity and quality. The quality evaluation for this groundwater is very important tool for sustainable development and decision for water management. A total of 28 groundwater samples, from shallow, springs, and deep aquifers, were collected, storage and analyzed to evaluate its quality suitability for domestic and agriculture purposes using geographic information system and geochemical methods. For the both aquifers, the abundance of cations: Na > Mg > Ca > K, and of anions in the order: Cl > HCO3 > SO4. The dominant hydrochemical facies, for the shallow aquifer and springs, are Na-Cl and Ca-Mg-Cl; for the deep aquifer, the geochemical facies are Na-Cl, Ca-Mg-Cl, and Ca-Cl. The comparison of the major parameters and the chemical data with the World Health Organization standards and the national standards indicate that this groundwater is suitable for drinking, except in some samples, with high salinity concentrations. The water quality was assessed, for drinking uses, using “water quality index,” “entropy,” and “improved water quality index.” The results mentioned that the improved water quality index is the best method which indicated that the poor water quality coincide with the Na-Cl water type. The entropy method and the water quality index present the optimistic methods. The irrigation suitability assessment was made using various parameters (SAR, TH, % Na, PI, MH, KR, EC). The results revealed that the majority of samples in Hajeb Layoun-Jelma basin are not appropriate for irrigation uses.

Suitability assessment of groundwater quality for irrigational use in Sagardighi block, Murshidabad district, West Bengal

“…Therefore, an appropriate knowledge regarding the hydrochemistry of water is of utmost importance so as to properly evaluate the quality of the groundwater, especially in the rural areas as it significantly affects the usability of the groundwater for irrigation, domestic as well as for industrial needs (Biswas et al 2020;. Several studies (Rabeiy 2018;Aouiti et al 2020;Aravinthasamy et al 2021;Kadam et al 2021;Kamaraj et al 2021;Rao et al 2021;Şener et al 2021) have been conducted earlier regarding hydrochemistry and groundwater suitability for irrigation. The quality of the water used for irrigational purpose directly influences the yield of crops as well as land degradation.…”

Risk Assessment of Groundwater Quality: A Case Study in Flood-Prone Neighbourhood Area of Pondidaha, Southeast Sulawesi

“…Groundwater plays a significant role in supporting human life and activities [33] and is the primary source of drinking water in the study area. Therefore, water quality assessment is indispensable for identifying the pollutant that significantly poses health risks [34].…”

Prediction of groundwater quality indices using machine learning algorithms

“…where, c j represents the concentration of the parameter (mg/l), and s j denotes the water standards of groundwater for each drinking parameter according to Bureau of Indian standards (BIS). The EWQI can then be calculated by the following Equation ( 14): The results of EWQI obtained from above equation are listed in Table 2 (Aouiti et al 2021). Out of 392 groundwater samples, only 14.80% of groundwater samples are unsuitable for drinking, while 32.40% of samples have good quality and only 17.60% samples exhibited excellent quality of groundwater for drinking purposes.…”