| dc.description.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. | en_US |
