Assessment of irrigation water quality in Isparta Plain (SW- Turkey) using statistic and Geographic Information Systems

In this study, the suitability of groundwater for agricultural irrigation in Isparta Plain was evaluated. For this purpose, samples were taken from 21 groundwater wells used for irrigation in agricultural areas in Isparta Plain. The EC, TDS values and chemical index calculations such as SAR, Na %, SSP, RSC, MR, KI, PI and PS were performed for the evaluation of irrigation water quality. According to the irrigation water criteria, the part of the water samples are in the “permissible” class for EC values and the high salinity/low sodium class, C3-S1 group, in the US Salinity diagram classification. The other part of the water samples are classified as the medium salinity C2-S1 group which can be used for all plants without the danger of salinity and sodium and as the “good” irrigation waters. All water samples have hardness values ranging from moderate water to very hard water according to TH values. The waters in the study region are determined as “good” to “excellent” in terms of Na % and SSP values, “excellent” in terms of SAR values, and “good” quality in terms of PI values for irrigation characteristics. All of the waters in the study area are suitable for irrigation purposes when considering the RSC, MR, KI, PS values. However, these chemical index parameters have been classified using scaled symbols according to the data sizes in the Geographic Information Systems program on the basis of irrigation water quality criteria. In these evaluations, it was determined that chemical index parameters have differed in some locations, but all of the waters are groundwater with suitable qualities for agricultural usage