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Water Quaality Asseessment: A case stu
udy on suiitability of
o water for
fo
Irrigaation purp
pose of Koota Mand
dal, Nellorre districtt, Andhraa Pradesh
h, India
A. Rajaa1, S. Sum
mithra1*, S. JameerA
Ahammad1, R. T. Yaamuna2.
1. Department of Environnmental Sciennces, Yogi Vem
mana Universiity, Kadapa -5
516 003, A.P
*Correspondding Author: sssumithra1@yaahoo.co.in, +9
91 9573339144
2. Deparrtment of Sciennce & Humannities, Kalaignnar Karunaniddhi Institute off Technology, Kannampalayyam Post,
Coimb
batore 6414002 T. N.

ABST
TRACT: Irriggation with pooor quality waaters may brinng undesirablle elements to the soil in exxcessive
quantiities affecting its fertility. In
I the present study water samples
s
were collected from canal, boree wells,
open wells
w
and riveers in Kota mandal and an
nalyzed for pH
H, EC, TDS, chloride,
c
totall alkalinity, suulphate,
nitratee, phosphate, sodium, maggnesium, calciium and potassium. To evaaluate the suiitability of waater for
irrigattion purposess, Sodium Adssorption Ratio
o (SAR), Soluuble Sodium Percentage
P
(SS
SSP) and Maggnesium
Adsorpption Ratio (M
MAR) were caalculated usingg the standardd equations an
nd found experimentally as (2.66
28.94)), (62.34 1000), (16.92 89.47)
8
respectiively. Throughh proper management the water
w
sources can be
effectively used for irrigation purrpose
Keywords: Irrigatiion, sodium addsorption ratiio, sulphate, magnesium
m
ad
dsorption ratioo.

I. Introductioon
wing the waterr for agricultuure from the canal,
c
tank, well
w etc. for th
he purpose off growing
Irrigationn means draw
crops. Allmost 80 per cent
c
of the waater in the world is taken upp for irrigatio
on. In India, thhe irrigation seector uses
approxim
mately 85 perccent of its avaiilable water reesources. Irriggated agricultuure is indepen
ndent on adequuate water
supply off usable qualitty. Water quaality concerns have often beeen neglected because goodd quality wateer supplies
have beeen plentiful annd readily avaailable [1, 2]. Irrigation waater quality is related to itss effects on sooils, crops
and its m
management. High
H
quality crops can be produced onlly by using high
h
quality irrrigation wateer keeping
other inpputs optimal.
Presently, 85 % of the wateer requiremennt for domesticc in rural areaas, 55 % for irrrigation and over
o
50 %
for indusstrial and urban uses is met from grounnd water [3]. Many areas in the countrry are facing a serious
problem of not only sccarcity of wateer, but also off its poor qualiity. Water useed for irrigatioon can also vaary greatly
in qualityy depending upon
u
the type and
a quantity of
o dissolved saalts.
Adamu, 20133 [4] carried out the work inn Watari riverr irrigation pro
oject, located on the slopes of Watari
river vallley in Bagwaii local governnment of Kano state with thhe aim of asssessing soil prroperties and quality of
irrigationn water. Irrig
gation water quality was determined based on saalinity hazardd, sodium haazard and
bicarbonaate hazard. Out of tested wells,
w
20.6 % of the wells hhave good qu
uality irrigatioon water, 44.1 % of the
wells havve permissiblee to doubtful irrigation
i
wateer quality, 35.. 3 % of the wells
w
have unssuitable irrigattion water
quality annd based on SAR,
S
almost all
a the wells have
h
good quaality irrigation
n water respecctively [5].Verrma, et al.
(2012) [6] conducted
d by monitoriing four canaal water i.e A
Ariyl canal, Ghoorpur cannal, Sharda canal
c
and
agricultuural canal of Allahabad
A
regioon for irrigatioon water suitaability.

II. Mateerials and M

Methods
dy area
2.1. Stud
Kota Mandall in S.P.S.R Nellore
N
Districct, Andhra Prradesh. Kota town
t
is locateed in the 14o27
2 13 N
o
Latitude 79 5912E Longitude. The
T study areaa is habituateed with aroun
nd 2,12,640 population
p
off the Kota
2,166 residentts that is spreaad across totall 69 Villages.
Mandal lliving in the 12

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| Vol. 5 | Iss. 5 | May 2015 | 49 |

Water Quuality Assessm

ment: A casee study on suuitability of water
w
for Irriigation purpoose of .

Fig. 1. Locattion Map of thhe Study area.

2.2. Selecction of parameters
The samples were analyzeed for variouss water qualitty parameters such as pH, Electrical connductivity
(EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)), Total Alkaliinity, Chloridee, Phosphate, Sulphate, Nittrate, Sodium,, Calcium,
d for estimatioon of various physical Magnesiuum and Potasssium using staandard proceddures [7]. The methods used
chemicall parameters are
a tabulated inn Table 1.
Tablle 1: Methodss used for esttimation of Ph
hysical - Cheemical Param
meters
S. No
N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0

Parametters
pH
Electrical Conductivity (S/cm)
Total Diissolved Solids (m
mg/L)
Total Allkalinity (mg/L)
Chloridee (mg/L)
Sulphatee (mg/L)
Phosphaate (mg/L)
Nitrate (mg/L)
(
Calcium
m and Magnesium
m (mg/L)
Sodium and Potassium (m
mg/L)

Methods
pH meter (Hanna)
(
Conductivity meter (Hannaa)
TDS Meter (Hanna)
Indicator method
m
Silver nitraate method
Colorimetrric method
Stannous chloride
c
method
Phenol Dissulphonic acid meethod
EDTA com
mplexometric metthod
Flame pho
otometer

Use of poor
p
water quuality can creaate four typess of problemss namely toxiicity, water innfiltration, saalinity and
miscellanneous [8].For current irrigattion water quaality assessmeent, the follow
wing parameterrs were considdered.
Accordinng to Richardss (1954) [9], soodium adsorpption ratio (SA
AR) is expressed as:
SAR =
N +
Na
(Caa2+ + Mg2+)/2
Todd (19980) [10] defiined soluble soodium percenntage (SSP) as:
Na++ K+
X 100
SSP =
2
2+
N 2+ + K+
Ca + Mg2+ + Na
Magnesiium adsorption ratio (MAR
R) [11] was callculated as:
2
MAR =
Mg2+
X 1000
2+
Ca + Mg2+
Kelleyss ratio (KR) [12] described as:
KR =
Na+
Ca2+ + Mg2+

III. Resu
ults and Disccussion
Generallyy pH values for normal irrrigation shouuld be betweeen 6 to 7, while values above
a
7 are considered
c
hazards [[13,14].The reecommended pH
p values speecified by BIS
S for irrigation
n purpose are between
b
6.8 too 8.5. The
values off pH in the sttudy area are within desiraable limits (T
Table 2).The concentration
c
of total salt content
c
in
irrigationn waters is esstimated in teerms of EC annd it may bee the most im
mportant param
meter for asseessing the
suitabilityy of irrigationn water [15, 16]. The EC value for irriigation water specified by the BIS limitts is 3000

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Water Quuality Assessm

ment: A casee study on suuitability of water
w
for Irriigation purpoose of .
mho/cm
m (1998). In thhe current stuudy the EC vaalue ranged beetween 501 too 5560 s/cm
m (Fig. 2). Waater with a
high salinnity is toxic to
o most plants and
a poses a saalinity hazard..
The TDS rangged between 3315 to 2840 mg/L
m
(Table 2)). The TDS lim
mits for irrigaation water specified by
the BIS is 600 mg/L
L (1998). Thee observation shows that the
t TDS is not
n within thee permissible range as
prescribeed by BIS (19998) [17]. Cerrtain study arrea showed hiigher TDS vaalue due to poollution of cannal water.
TDS is aan important water
w
quality parameter whhich determinees the plant growth,
g
crop yield
y
and quallity of the
product.
Total alkaliniity was found to be in the range
r
of 102.00 to 510.6 mgg/L. High alkaalinity indicatees that the
o the soil or growing meddia, possibly to a point thatt is detrimentaal to plant
water will tend to incrrease the pH of
The total alkaalinity limit foor irrigation water
w
specifiedd by BIS is 140 mg/L. Exccess of chloridde ions in
growth. T
irrigationn water lead too phytotoxicityy. The normall and safe lim
mit for chloridee ions in irrigaation water specified by
BIS is 5000 mg/L, If thhe chloride contamination inn the leaves exceeds
e
the toolerance limitss (0.3 to 1.0 percent)
p
of
the crop,, symptoms liike leaf burn occur. The vaalue of the chhloride in the study area raanged betweeen67.35 to
825.98 m
mg/L.
Phosphate conncentration was
w found with
hin the permissible limit (2 mg/L, FAO) of
o irrigation sttandard in
all samplling sites. It iss one of the most
m importan
nt nutrient andd a limiting faactor in the maintenance
m
off reservoir
fertility. Sulphate conccentration varried between 6 to 50mg/L and was founnd within the prescribed lim
mit (<400
mg/L) as per BIS.

Fig. 2.
Sodium aadsorption ratiio (SAR) is ann indication of the probablee pressure on the
t soil properrties caused by sodium.
SAR stattes the conceentration of soodium in watter relative too calcium andd magnesium. When the amount
a
of
sodium inn the irrigatio
on water exceeeds than allow
wable limit, it disperses the soil resulting in low penetrration rate
of air andd water into the
t soil. Thus it is difficult to harvest onn the dispersed
d soil. Soils can have excesss sodium
because of
o the waste water
w
irrigatioon that is why
y it is importaant to measurre SAR [18]. The amount oof sodium
ions in thhe water predicts the sodicitty danger [13]].
Low SAR values have beeen found in the month of December
D
wheereas high andd very high SA
AR values
have beeen found in th
he month of January
J
in thee study area. The data sho
owed clearly that increasinng salinity
levels in the irrigationn water had led
l to an incrrease in the SAR
S
values on all locationns under studyy. Similar
results w
were obtained by
b Ahmed Ibrrahim Moham
med, 2013 [19]]; El Kholy, 20004 [20]; El Kholy
K
and Kanndil, 2004
[21].
The soluble sodium
s
percenntage (SSP) vaalues were fouund to vary frrom 62.34 to 100 % dependding upon
locationss in different months (Tabble 3). Howevver, in terms of MAR, irrrigation waterr of all samples is not
acceptablle. MAR causses a harmful effect when exceed
e
a valuee of 50 [22]. In
I the study area,
a
MAR rannged from
86.36 to 55.55 in the month
m
of Deceember and 89.47 to 16.92 inn the month off January.

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| Vol. 5 | Iss. 5 | May 2015 | 51 |

Water Quuality Assessm

ment: A casee study on suuitability of water
w
for Irriigation purpoose of .

Fig. 3
R for irrigatioon water shoulld not exceed 1.0. KI (Kellleys index) orr Kelleys
Kelly (19963) [12] sugggested that KR
ratio of m
more than onee indicates an excess level of sodium in waters. Thereefore, waters with
w a KI lesss than one
are suitabble for irrigattion, while thoose with a rattio more thann one are unsu
uitable. The KI
K in the pressent study
varied froom 0.89 to 2.47 in the monnth of Decem
mber and 80.522 to 366.6 in the month off January. Sim
milar study
was reported in the waater quality off Mayur river [23].
[
Wilcox (19555) [24] suggeested a graphiical method for
fo knowing th
he suitability of water for irrigation
purposes. The proposeed method is widely
w
used and
a is based on percent soddium and electtrical conducttivity plot.
The diaggram consists of five distincct areas i.e., excellent
e
to goood, good to permissible,
p
p
permissible
to doubtful,
doubtful to unsuitable and unsuitablle. The data was
w calculatedd and subsequ
uently plotted on the Wilcoxx diagram
n as salinity hazard and SAR
S
in meq//L as alkaliniity hazard
(Fig. 4).IIn this diagraam, EC in s/cm is taken
[25].Perccentage of sod
dium values of
o water sampples indicate that some off the water sam
mples showedd good to
permissibble category for
fo irrigation use,
u except two
o samples whhich are under unsuitable cattegory

Fig
g. 4.Wilcox diagram for classification of water quality in the study area.
a

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Water Quality Assessment: A case study on suitability of water for Irrigation purpose of .
Table 2: Physical Chemical characteristics of Irrigation water in the study area.
Parameters
pH
EC (s)
TDS (Mg/L)
Chloride
(Mg/L)
Total
Alkalinity
(Mg/L)
Nitrate
(Mg/L)
Phosphate
(Mg/L)
Sulphate
(Mg/L)
Sodium
(Meq/L)
Calcium
(Meq/L)
Magnesium
(Meq/L)
Potassium
(Mg/L)

December 2014
3
4
7.08
6.79
4590
2244
2300
1093
684.18
251.69

6.78
1077
621
120.53

6.74
945
483
443.12

205.5

455.6

510.6

102.0

ND

ND

ND

ND

0.5

5
6.21
726
374
67.35

January 2015
4
7.60
7.30
5150
1079
2570
956
568
99.4

7.07
5560
2840
825.98

7.05
890
590
127.8

6.95
501
368
312.4

135.0

295.5

202

501

525.4

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

0.5

ND

2.0

0.5

3.5

15

15

27

53

3.94

13.06

14.13

9.91

2.82

0.6

1.6

1.4

1.2

3.8

7.6

4.44

5.6

15

3.35

6
7.56
693
315
56.8

7.74
2140
1054
340.8

160.5

160.0

377.1

ND

ND

ND

ND

0.8

0.7

2.2

0.5

10

10

30

50

18.45

1.1

0.49

1.53

1.06

0.53

2.05

0.8

4.6

0.0014

0.0006

0.0024

0.0008

0.0006

7.41

6.0

1.0

8.64

0.0016

0.002

0.017

0.0022

0.0014

0.0092

3.6

2.9

3.55

1.95

5.85

15.21

5.85

7.41

3.9

*ND = Not Detected

Table 3: Calculated parameters to evaluate water quality for irrigation use.
Location
1
2
3
4
5
6

SAR
2.66
6.10
8.31
5.24
3.0
7.17

December 2014
SSP
MAR
68.43
86.36
70.30
82.60
74.95
76.02
65.23
83.33
76.06
55.55
62.34
65.25

KR
0.89
1.41
2.47
1.37
1.56
1.39

SAR
28.94
13.61
15.61
27.89
18.70
27.70

January 2015
SSP
MAR
99.90
53.33
100
16.92
99.93
89.47
100
73.33
99.97
70
99.82
82.14

KR
366.6
188.46
80.52
353.3
290
183.0

IV. Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, it has been concluded that the current usage of irrigation waters is comparably
safe and acceptable. Since the concentration of sodium is quite alarming there is every possibility of the soil to
become sodic after prolonged usage in near future. Apart from this, it has been observed that, the way and
manner in which the water is put into use might likely impose some toxic substances into the water which might
get deposited into the soils and enter into the food chain leading to deleterious effects. Therefore it is
recommended that the prevailing unaesthetic conditions of water pertaining to various human activities and
effluent discharge from industries have to be curtailed in order to prevent the soil from deterioration.

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