A study of groundwater irrigation water quality in south-central Bangladesh: a geo-statistical model approach using GIS and multivariate statistics

Southern Bangladesh's irrigation and drinking water is threatened by saline intrusion. This study aimed to establish an irrigation water quality index(IWQI) using a geostatistical model and multivariate indices in Gopalgan district, south-central Bangladesh. Groundwater samples were taken randomly(different depths) in two seasons(wet-monsoon and dry-monsoon). Hydrochemical analysis revealed groundwater in this area was neutral to slightly alkaline and dominating cations were Na^+, Mg^(2+), and Ca^(2+) along with major anions Cl-and HCO^(3-). Principa component analysis and Gibbs plot helped explain possible geochemical processes in the aquifer. The irrigation wate evaluation indices showed: electrical conductivity(EC)[750 l S/cm, moderate to extreme saline; sodium adsorption ratio(SAR), excellent to doubtful; total hard ness(TH), moderate to very hard; residual sodium bicar bonate, safe to marginal; Kelly's ratio [1; soluble sodiumpercentage(SSP), fair to poor; magnesium adsorption ratio,harmful for soil; and IWQI, moderate to suitable. In addition, the best fitted semivariogram for IWQI, EC, SAR,SSP, and TH confirmed that most parameters had strong spatial dependence and others had moderate to weak spatial dependence. This variation might be due to the different origin/sources of major contributing ions along with the influence of variable river flow and small anthropogenic contributions. Furthermore, the spatial distribution maps for IWQI, EC, SSP, and TH during both seasons confirmed the influence of salinity from the sea; low-flow in the major river system was the driving factor of overall groundwater quality in the study area. These findings may contribute to management of irrigation and/or drinking water in regions with similar groundwater problems.

Hydrogeochemical evaluation and statistical analysis of groundwater of Sylhet, north-eastern Bangladesh

To investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater 23 shallow, 30 intermediate and 38 deep wells samples were collected from Sylhet district of Bangladesh, and analyzed for temperature, pH, Eh, EC,DO, DOC, Na^+, K^+, Ca^(2+), Mg^(2+), Cl^-, SO_4^(2-), NO_3^-,HCO_3^-, SiO_2^-, Fe, Mn and As. Besides, 12 surface water samples from Surma and Kushiyara Rivers were also collected and analyzed to understand the influence into aquifers. Results revealed that, most of the groundwater samples are acidic in nature, and Na–HCO_3 is the dominant groundwater type. The mean value of temperature, EC,Na^+, K^+, Ca^(2+), Mg^(2+), Cl^-, NO_3^- and SO_4^(2-) were found within the range of permissible limits, while most of the samples exceeds the allowable limits of Fe, Mn and As concentrations. However, relatively higher concentration of Fe and Mn were found in deep water samples and reverse trend was found in case of As. The mean concentrations of As in shallow, intermediate and deep wells were 39.3, 25.3and 21.4 lg/L respectively, which varied from 0.03 to148 lg/L. From spatial distribution, it was found that Fe,Mn and As concentrations are high but patchy in northern,north-western, and south-western part of Sylhet region. The most influential geochemical process in study area were identified as silicate weathering, characterized by active cation exchange process and carbonate weathering, which thereby can enhance the elemental concentrations in groundwater. Pearson's correlation matrix, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were also employed to evaluate the controlling factors, and it was found that, both natural and anthropogenic sources were influencing the groundwater chemistry of the aquifers. However, surface water has no significant role to contaminate the aquifers,rather geogenic factors affecting the trace elemental contamination. Thus it is expected that, outcomes of this study will provide useful insights for future groundwater monitoring and management of the study area.