Spatial Distribution Of Groundwater Quality In Mafraq Area, Jordan Using GIS and Water Quality Index(WQI)

The quality of groundwater was assessed by determining the physicochemical parameters (pH, EC, TDS and TH) and major ions concentration (HCO3, Cl, SO4, Ca, Mg, Na and K) in Mafraq area, Jordan. The groundwater samples were collected from 55 wells covering the entire study area that gathered from the open files of the Water Authority and samples during 2011. GIS software was used to analyze and create spatial variability maps of different groundwater quality parameters using Kriging for generation of spatial distribution maps. Based on the groundwater quality standards, majority of the samples are suitable for drinking purposes. Also WQI analysis has been used to generate the spatial distribution of water pollutants of constituents. The results revealed that the groundwater was suitable for drinking purpose in the areas. From the Piper plot, the majority of samples classified as earth alkaline water with increased portion of alkalis and prevailing chloride. This type of water represents 40% of the analyzed samples in the study area which characterized by high concentration of chloride and the ionic ratio of the water constituents.