Groundwater for Drinking and Agricultural Uses of Al-Rasheedia and Guba Area North of Mosul City-Iraq

Al-Salim TH and Ahmad NR

Published on: 2024-08-15

Abstract

Water quality is an important issue in ground water studies and is just as important as its quantity. The main objectives of this study are to determine the chemical and physical characteristics of ground water and to assess its quality for determining its suitability for domestics and irrigation purposes. Ground water samples were collected from 15 drilling wells, during field work in May 2007, for the analysis of their chemical composition of major cations and anions. The analysis comprises physical and chemical parameters of ground water such as; Ec, pH, TDS, Na, K, Ca, Mg. HCO3, CO3, SO4, Cl and NO3.Chemical parameters such as, permeability index (PI), sodium percent (Na%), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and chloroalkaline indices (CAI) were calculated, based on the analytical results of ground water samples.

Basement rocks of the studied area are represented by Al-Fatha Formation of Middle Miocene age which consist of gypsum, clay, anhydrite and lime stone. It is overlain by Quaternary sediments which are characterized by highly permeable beds and wide geographical distribution. Hydro chemical parameters are analyzed graphically using Piper diagram to show the suitability, type and geochemical evolution of the ground water. The SAR index was calculated and used to evaluate groundwater samples, taken from in the study area, and used for irrigation purposes using Richard classification to show the suitability of ground water for irrigation. According to the results of chemical analysis of ground water samples, types of water are of CaSO4, Na2SO4 and mix Ca-Mg-Cl. More over ground water samples are of high TDS, high TH and generally low alkaline in nature. High to very high salinity hazards shows that this kind of ground water can be used for plants having good salt tolerances. The overall quality of ground water samples of the studied area in most chemical constituents is on the higher side due to dissolution between infiltrated rainwater, ground water and host rocks and also due to agricultural and domestic activities.