Irrigation Water Quality Evaluation of Aldelam Groundwater

Good quality water helps to maintain agricultural productivity and sustain soil fertility. Agricultural activities in Saudi Arabia depend on surface water and groundwater as the main sources for irrigation. Groundwater is the main source used for irrigation purposes in this area. This study was done to evaluate the status of groundwater quality and its suitability for irrigated agriculture. To achieve this objective, water samples from fourteen wells were collected from different areas of Aldelam in May and July of 2011. The water quality of these wells in the study area was estimated from different water quality parameters such as chloride, bicarbonate, sodium, calcium, total dissolved solids (TDS), EC, pH, sodium adsorption ratio, and percentage of sodium. The results showed that the overall concentration of all the ions was very high, but the sodium hazard in the well water was moderate. About 78 percent of the wells had suitable water quality for boron, and they had a concentration below the permissible limit for crop irrigation. TDS in the groundwater ranged between 1114.88 to 2897.71 ppm during the investigation period. High EC and low SAR in all the wells showed that the water from these wells could be used for irrigation purposes with special management.