Groundwater hydrochemical characterization and quality assessment in the Ghriss Plain basin, northwest Algeria

A base line study involving analysis of groundwater samples from the Ghriss Plain Plio-quaternary aquifer, in northwest Algeria, was carried out to determine the major elements chemistry and to assess the hydrogeochemical processes and water quality for domestic use. The main groundwater facies in t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aqua (London) 2018-08, Vol.67 (5), p.jws2018013
Main Authors: Bekkoussa, S., Bekkoussa, B., Taupin, J.-D., Patris, N., Meddi, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural management
Aquifers
Brackish water
Calcium
Calcium ions
Chemistry
Climate change
Contamination
Drinking water
Earth science
Fertilizers
Fresh water
Freshwater
Freshwater environments
Geology
Groundwater
Groundwater quality
Hydrogeochemistry
Hydrology
Infiltration
Inland water environment
Irrigation
Magnesium
Major elements
Mineralization
Nitrates
Organic chemistry
Principal components analysis
Quality assessment
Quality control
Quaternary
Salinization
Wastewater
Water analysis
Water quality
Water sampling
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A base line study involving analysis of groundwater samples from the Ghriss Plain Plio-quaternary aquifer, in northwest Algeria, was carried out to determine the major elements chemistry and to assess the hydrogeochemical processes and water quality for domestic use. The main groundwater facies in the area belong to the Mg–HCO3 and Mg–Cl types. Based on TDS classification, 44.5% of the analyzed samples belong to fresh water and the remaining 55.5% to brackish water categories. A comparison of groundwater quality parameters in relation to WHO limits for drinking water shows that the concentrations of TDS, Cl− and NO3− exceed the desirable limits in many water samples. The principal component analysis (PCA) technique reveals the contribution of Cl−, Na+, Ca2+, K+ and Mg2+ in the salinization process and underlines the contamination of the groundwater with NO3− in relation to the widespread application of nitrate fertilizers and/or infiltration of untreated urban wastewater. The groundwater quality index (GWQI) shows that 70.5% of the water samples fall within the excellent-to-good category, whereas the remaining samples fall in the poor-to-unsuitable for drinking category.
ISSN:0003-7214
1606-9935
1605-3974
DOI:10.2166/aqua.2018.013