Seasonal variation of groundwater quality in a part of Vadodara District for irrigation, Gujarat, India

Abstract

The area in Vadodara district, Gujarat, India, is selected to discuss the impact of seasonal variation of groundwater quality on irrigation, where the agriculture is the main livelihood of rural people and the groundwater is the main source for irrigation and drinking. Groundwater samples collected seasonally, pre and post-monsoons, during three years from Twenty five wells in the area were analyzed for pH, EC, TDS, TH, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , K + , CO 3 2− , HCO 3 − , Cl − , SO 4 2− , NO 3 − and F − .Various tools such as Electrical conductivity (EC), Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR), United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) were used to evaluate the quality of water and its suitability for irrigation purposes. Results of SAR shows that many of the wells during premonsoon illustrate high values indicating the unsuitable nature of groundwater for irrigation but during post monsoon, SAR values found to be decreased due to the dilution effect of precipitation by monsoon.