Assessment of groundwater quality in West Sohag, Egypt

摘要

Groundwater in West of Sohag represents the second source for freshwater used for agricultural, domestic, and industrial purposes. The main objectives of this study are to assess the hydrochemistry characteristics of groundwater resources and evaluate it for different uses. This study is based on chemical analyses of 166 groundwater samples that were collected from the investigated area in 2014. The result of analysis has been used to evaluate the collected groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes by comparing those parameters with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Egyptian standards. 56% of the collected groundwater samples are suitable for drinking, and 44% are unsuitable due to their high levels of salinity (1,000 ppm). Most of the collected groundwater samples of the studied area are unsuitable for domestic or industrial purposes due to the high level of hardness (84% hard to very hard). The quality of collected water for irrigation was evaluated using salinity hazard, US Salinity Laboratory diagram, sodium percent (Na %), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), magnesium hazard (MH), Kelly's ratio (KR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), and potential salinity (PS). The majority of the collected groundwater samples are safe for irrigation based on salinity, SAR and US salinity diagram. About half of the collected samples are suitable for irrigation, while the other half is unsuitable based on Na %, RSC, KR, and PS. According to MH and SSP, most of the collected samples are unsuitable for agriculture under ordinary conditions.