Research article

ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY FOR IRRIGATION PURPOSE IN BADUA-CHANDAN SUB-BASIN IN BIHAR- A CASE STUDY

Mani Bhushan1, K Praveen2*, Keshav Kumar3, L B Roy4

Online First: March 14, 2023


India is an agricultural based country. The new strategy in agro-oriented economy demands, high degree of concentration in water management that is effective control of over utilization of water by irrigation sector. The major objective of the present study is to assess the groundwater for irrigation purpose. In this study thirteen locations are collected from tube wells/boreholes in the Badua-Chandan sub-basin in Bihar, India. The hydrochemistry of groundwater and the impact of major ions on its suitability for drinking water and agricultural purposes have been thoroughly examined through parameters like percentage of sodium, sodium absorption ratio, U S Salinity laboratory diagram and the Wilcox diagram. By analyzing samples, the Piper diagram indicates all samples belongs to calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate (Ca > Mg > HCO3-) type water. The results of Wilcox diagram indicates that, 23 percent samples come under Excellent to good category and 53.84 percent of groundwater samples fall into the Good to Permissible category, which means 76 percent of samples are used for agricultural purpose. However, in U S Salinity laboratory diagram, 77 percent of the groundwater samples come under C3 – S1 category which means high salinity and low sodium hazard are require proper leaching required for irrigation purpose.

Keywords

Sodium absorption ratio; U.S. Salinity laboratory diagram; Wilcox diagram