Irrigation water quality assessment of Betagi Upazila under Barguna district in Bangladesh

Abstract

Irrigation water quality is important for the successful crop production. The present study aimed to assess the quality of both ground and surface water for use of irrigation purposes at Betagi Upazila under Barguna district in Bangladesh. Forty two water samples were collected from different locations and their important chemical properties including pH, EC, the concentration of PO₄^3-, SO₄^2-, K⁺, and Na⁺ were analyzed.  Results revealed that the pH of the ground and surface water were ranged from 7.23 to 8. 49 and 6.98 to 7.96, respectively. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples were 590 to 1950 µ Scm^-1 and 110 to 380 µ Scm^-1 respectively. The PO₄^3- concentration in groundwater was 0.10 to 0.74 mgL^-1 and surface water was 0.05 to 0.20 mgL^-1. The SO₄^2- concentration of groundwater ranged from 1.29 to 3.10 mgL^-1 and surfacewater was 2.11 to 7.28 mgL^-1. The K⁺ ion concentration was 4.55 to 11.38 mgL^-1 in groundwater and 6.12 to 22.44 mgL^-1 in surface water. The PO₄^3- and SO₄^2- concentration in most of the ground and surface water samples within the “safe” limit for irrigation, whereas the pH, EC, and K⁺ concentration in both ground and surface water were not in the safe limit. Besides this, Na⁺ concentration was higher in groundwater than surface water. Based on chemical properties, surface water is more suitable as irrigation water compared to groundwater in the study area.