A holistic assessment of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes

Abstract

Abstract This study discusses about suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation use in Rohtak district of Haryana (India). The entropy water quality index (EWQI), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), Sodium percentage (Na%), Kelly ratio (KR), magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR), US salinity, and Gibbs diagram were analyzed. The spatial maps suggest that groundwater quality in central part extending towards southwestern part of area can be categorized as poor. The major ions were reported in the following order: Mg2+ > Ca2+ > Na+ > K+, and Cl− > SO42− > NO3− > HCO3− > F− > CO32− respectively. Moreover, results revealed that most of groundwater exceeded desirable limits for drinking water. The EWQI assessment indicates that 23.4% and 38.4% of groundwater samples have extremely poor quality in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, respectively. Further other indices shows that various indices exceed their standard limit, and mostly samples are unsuitable for irrigation. The Gibbs diagram and other bivariate plots demonstrate that various ions in groundwater can be attributed to silicate and carbonate weathering, which occur through water -rock interactions and ion exchange phenomena. In addition, the US Salinity diagram verifies that most groundwater samples exhibit significant salinity hazards, particularly concerning high sodium levels.