STUDY ON GROUNDWATER FOR IRRIGATION, DRINKING AND INDUSTRIAL USES

Abstract

An investigation was carried out to assess the suitability for agriculture, domestic and industrial usages of 71 groundwater and 4 surface water samples collected from different locations of Saidpur Upazilla of Nilphamari district. pH, EC, cations (Ca**, Mg”", Na’, K*, Zn**, Cu", Mn”* and Fe**), anions (CO;*, HCO;,, NO;, SO,”, PO,* and CI) and TDS (total dissolved solids) were analyzed. SAR (sodium adsorption ratio), SSP (soluble sodium percentage), RSC (residual sodium carbonate), permeability index (PI), Kelly’s ratio, potential salinity, Gibbs ratio and hardness were also determined. The pH values indicated that the waters were mostly acidic in nature. Among the chemical budget of ions, magnesium and chloride were found to be the most predominant ions. The average amount of Ca, Na, K and HCO; were safe for crop production. The intensive agricultural activities mainly the application of nitrogenous fertilizers may be the factor for the higher concentration of nitrates. The mean values of TDS and SAR indicated the excellent category for irrigation. Based on SSP all waters were excellent classes. In respect to hardness, water had moderately hard to very hard class. Based on the total hardness, most ground waters were moderately hard. All waters were free from RSC and belong to the suitable category. Most of the major ionic constituents were detected below the acceptable level for drinking. Other micronutrients like Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cl were within the safe limit for irrigating agricultural crops. Iron and Mn exceeded the drinking standard in some waters. All water samples are more or less suitable for industries like brewing, ice manufacture purpose, dairy farm and carbonate beverage. But almost all waters were unsuitable for textile and laundering.