Groundwater quality and its suitability to agriculture -GIS based case study of Chhatna block, Bankura district, West Bengal, India

Water pollution is a major challenge amongst all other types of pollution. A number of factors like geology, soil, effluents, sewage disposal and other environmental conditions in which the water happens to stay or move and interact are responsible for this. The study has been made to [md out the status of groundwater quality and its suitability in regards to irrigation purpose. A total number of 23 water samples from borewells have been collected for pre-monsoon 2009 and post-monsoon 2009 from Chhatna block, Bankura district, West Bengal, India. Water quality data used in the present study include Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Soluble Sodium Percentage (SSP), Residual Sodium Bi-carbonate (RSBC/RSC) and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). From the results of analysis, it is revealed that the values of Sodium Adsorption Ratio indicate that, ground water of the area falls under the category of low sodium hazard. So, there is neither salinity nor toxicity problem of irrigation water, and hence the ground water can safely be used for long-term irrigation.