Study Of Groundwater Quality For Irrigation Purpose – A Case Study Of Paliganj Distributary, Bihar, India

Abstract

If irrigation water becomes polluted, the circulation of water in the soil is reduced and plant development is hampered. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality and suitability of groundwater in the Paliganj distributary of Bihar, India for irrigation. A total of forty groundwater samples are collected from the hand pump and dug well during March 2020 and October 2020 and analyzed for pH, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, CO3-2, NO3-, TH, F-, SO42-, K-, Cl-, and HCO3-. The chemical characteristics of groundwater are analyzed by piper diagram. Irrigation water quality was analyzed by using Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR), Permeability Index (PI), Magnesium Absorption Ratio (MAR), Sodium percentage (SSP), Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Kelley’s ratio (KR) and Potential salinity index. After analyzing the samples by piper diagram, 95% of samples in pre monsoon and 86% of samples in post monsoon, belong to Ca2+- HCO3- type and remaining samples belong to Ca+2 - Na+-HCO3- type of water. According to the USSL diagram, the majority of pre- and post-monsoon samples fall into the C1S1 and C2S1 categories, indicating that groundwater samples are acceptable for irrigation. Only four samples are in the C3S1 and C3S2 salinity categories, which range from mild to high and may be utilized for irrigation in a variety of soils with sodium exchange. All samples were suitable for irrigation based on their potential salinity and MAR.