Chemical Characteristics and Quality Assessment of Groundwater of Exploited Aquifers in Beijiao Water Source of Yinchuan, China: A Case Study for Drinking, Irrigation, and Industrial Purposes

Abstract

This work is aimed at reviewing the chemical characteristics and evaluation of the quality of exploited groundwater in Beijiao water source of Yinchuan. A coupled model based on osculating value method (OVM) and entropy is proposed to determine the suitability for drinking. Besides, phreatic water and confined water are evaluated for irrigation purposes and industrial purposes, respectively. Piper diagram shows different hydrochemical characteristics between aquifers, which can be explained by the control mechanisms revealed by Gibbs diagram. Chloroalkaline indices and ions relationship indicate that reverse ion exchanges occur in different aquifers. Based on the osculating values, 96% of the phreatic water samples are fit for human consumption, and the confined water can provide quality drinking water. Most of the phreatic water samples have no sodium hazard but have magnesium hazard. All the confined water samples generate mild foaming reaction, and 93% of them are mildly corrosive for boilers. An assessment by OVM without entropy is calculated. Similar results to the coupled model demonstrate that pure OVM is also objective and valid. The simple algorithm turns multicriteria decision-making problems into an integrated index which is just as useful to water quality assessment.