dc.description | Groundwater is an important source of freshwater for agriculture, drinking and
domestic uses in many regions of the world including Bangladesh. Demand of
groundwater has been increasing day by day for irrigation by bringing more area
under cultivation. As a drinking water, the bottled water market currently has an
average annual growth rate of 7.4% between 2002 and 2007, which is parallel to
the growth of this industry all over the world. Availability of groundwater for
irrigation has contributed to manifold increases in crop productivity in Bangladesh.
Increasing population, food insecurity, growing economics and poor water
management are putting unprecedented pressure on the world’s freshwater
resources (UNCSD, 2012). | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | In this study, ground water Samples were collected and studied from
Baliadangi Upazilla, Thakurgaon, Bangladesh in dry seasons of the year 2014 and
analyzed their quality and suitability for agricultural, industrial and drinking
purposes. To study the various physiochemical and microbiological parameters,
water samples were collected from 15 deep tube wells, 18 shallow tube wells, and
17 hand tube wells. Analyses were included as pH, EC, TDS (Total Dissolved
Solids), cations (Ca”*, Mg”*, Na‘, K*, Zn**, Cu’*, Mn?" and Fe’), anions (HCO;,,
SO,”, PO,* and CI) and also computed several variables such as hardness, SAR
(sodium adsorption ratio), SSP (soluble sodium percentage), RSC (residual sodium
carbonate), permeability index, permeability salinity, Gibb’s ratio (Anion &
Cation) and Kelly’s ratio to evaluate the suitability of groundwater supply for
specific use. Some correlations and compositional relations were also evaluated.
Overall we found that the groundwater samples were acidic in nature (pH varied
from 5.4 to 6.9) and could be suitable for drinking, agricultural and industrial uses.
According to TDS and SAR values, all samples were classed as ‘freshwater’ and
‘excellent’ categories. The soluble sodium percentage (SSP) of all the samples was
under ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ classes. Regarding hardness maximum samples were
within ‘soft’ class, some were ‘moderately hard’ and only three samples (sample
no. 18, 27 and 45) were ‘hard’. All samples were ‘suitable’ according to RSC.
Based on the contents Zn", Mn", Fe**, SO,7, NO; and CI, groundwater samples
of the study area were within the ‘safe’ limit for drinking. In comparison with the
national and international standards, the water sources of the study area
(Baliadangi, Thakurgaon) were within the safe limit and recommended for
drinking, agricultural, industrial and livestock use. | en_US |