Variation Of Groundwater Quality Of Telkaif Area, North Of Mosul City, Iraq

Year 2009, Volume: 138 Issue: 138, 69 - 78, 01.07.2009

Taha Hussein Aı-sallm

Abstract

The shortage in water supply forced the population to drill
their private well and extract groundwater to meet their increasing needs. The
area under study is a major agricultural area that supports crops such as
wheat, barely, lentil and vegetable and large scale livestock operation The
importance of chemical characteristics study of groundwater lies in knowing the
effect between the lithological unit and water flow, and naturally
concentration of dissolved salts increased due to natural dissolution
process.  The chemical characteristics of groundwater samples in Telkaif
area north of  Mosul City have been studied through the chemical analysis
of (14) water samples to evaluate the quality of groundwater for determining
its suitability for domestic and agricultural uses. Physical and chemical
parameters of groundwater samples such as electrical conductivity  (Ec),
pH, Total Dissolved  Solids (TDS), Na+, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2, HC03-1, 
 S04·2,   N03-1, CI1  and Total Hardness  (TH) were
determined.  Hydrochemical parameters are analyzed graphically by using
Piper diagram to show the suitability, type and the geochemical evolution of
the groundwater.  Richard (1954) and Wilcox (1955) classifications are
also used to show the suitability of groundwater for irrigation. Lithological
unit of Al-Fatha,  Injana and Quaternary aquifers were identified and
examined from the wells distributed over the area of study. Groundwater of the
study area is replenished from rainfall and valleys draining water to the
catchment. Groundwater chemistry of the study area indicates that most
groundwater samples are of CaHC03  and CaS04 water type, having the high
total hardness  (TH) and Total Dissolved  Solids (TDS), and generally
low alkaline in nature.

Keywords

Iraq, Telkaif area, groundwater, hydrochemistry

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