Integration of Hydrogeochemical Analytical Methods and Irrigation Parameters in the Evaluation of Groundwater Quality at Ibinta, Southern Benue Trough Nigeria

Abstract

Groundwater quality assessment for irrigation purposes was carried out using America Public Health Association standard method for the following parameters: pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), Mg2+, Ca2+,Cl- and SO42-. Hydrogeochemical facies analysis from Piper plot and Durovindicate the dominance of SO42-+ Mg2+water type.Irrigation parameters analyzed showed that electrical conductivity was in the range of 58.14 to 965.87μS/cm, soluble sodium percentage (SSP) ranged between 2.04 to 26.66, sodium percentage (Na%) varied from 2.08 to 30.23 %,Kelly ratio (KR) ranged from 0.003 to 0.3 and total hardness (TH) was between 11.00 to 67.50in the study area. The above estimated parameters satisfy the various permissible standard values for irrigation.However, SSP and SAR are slightly above various permissible standard values for irrigation.It was observed that SSP, Na%, KR and TH were considered fit for irrigation.