Hydrochemical Characterisation of Groundwater Quality: Merdja Plain (Tebessa Town, Algeria)

Abstract

The objective of this work is to evaluate the physico-chemical quality of the groundwater of the Merdja plain and to determine the sources of mineralization. This quality is influenced by several environmental and anthropogenic factors such as geological context, climate, precipitation and interaction between groundwater and aquifers and human activities.  A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on samples taken from several wells spread over the entire Tebessa plain (Merdja) allowed us to detect two axes that explain 73.4% of the information. The first axis describes the variables related to mineralisation and the second one describes those related to agricultural activity. Multidimensional Positioning (MDS) confirmed the interaction of physico-chemical parameters between them and their influence on groundwater quality by highlighting three groups of wells according to their physico-chemical characteristics, particularly those containing high concentrations of nitrates. This contamination is mainly the result of spreading the fertilisers and wastes that are dumped into the plain without treatment. Salinization is the result of long-term interactions between groundwater and geological formations.