Assessment of Groundwater Quality for Irrigation in Coimbatore South Taluk, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of ground water for irrigation purpose at twenty-seven locations in Coimbatore South Taluk, Coimbatore District. The analytical result shows that Na and Cl are the dominant cation and anions respectively in the groundwater. The values of TDS and EC exceed the permissible limits at some locations due to increase in ionic concentrations. Based on SAR, RSC, US Salinity diagram and Wilcox diagram it is observed that the water ranges from excellent to good quality in most of the places and can be used for irrigation without any hazard. Gibbs variation diagram indicates that lithology is main controlling factor for water chemistry. However, the high SAR and RSC values at few locations restrict suitability for irrigation purpose.