Groundwater Quality Assessment of some Poultry Farms in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria, for Irrigation and Household Uses (Published)
The development of enormous irrigation systems has been a major instrumental to worldwide food security, especially in arid zones, but it has also been associated with land and water salinity issues. The shallow hand-dug wells of some poultry farms in Osun State were sampled on seasonal basis and evaluated for their quality and suitableness for agricultural uses. Twenty-four water samples taken from wells were evaluated for physicochemical variables, applying standard methods. The main constituents that determine the water quality for irrigation like electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, sodium adsorption ratio, soluble sodium percentage, residual sodium bicarbonate, magnesium adsorption ratio, Kelly’s ratio and Permeability index were evaluated and in comparison with safe limits. Quality assurance procedures included blank test, recovery analysis and calibration of standards. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data interpretations. The mean values of EC (<600.00 µS/cm), TDS (<400.00 mg/L), SAR (˂1.00 meq/L), SSP (˂25.00%), RSBC (˂0.50 meq/L), MAR (˂ 50.00%), KR (˂0.50 meq/L) and PI (˂2.00 meq/L) were found to be in the safe limits of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency and Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization. Thereby, the groundwater would not cause detrimental effects on the soil properties of the assessment area.
Keywords: : Irrigation, Assessment, Groundwater, Water Quality, physicochemical variables, poultry farms
Irrigation Water Quality Assessment of Shallow Quaternary Alluvial Aquifer Systems in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, Nigeria (Published)
Study of groundwater quality has been undertaken in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, Nigeria to assess the suitability of groundwater for irrigation. Knowledge of the effect of irrigation water on soil properties is very important in the area in order to maintain good soil productivity. This study therefore is aimed at determining whether the groundwater in the study area can be used for agricultural purposes. The research was based on the result obtained from the calculated Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). The SAR is the most useful parameter used in the determination of the suitability of the groundwater of any area for agricultural purposes. The calculated SAR for groundwater ranges from 3I.06 to 65.23mg/l, indicating that the groundwater samples, showed low salinity and very high sodium water for irrigation purposes for most soils and crops with danger of development of exchange sodium and salinity. This shows that the groundwater samples are not suitable for irrigation. High SAR values (>I0) could cause sodium to replace adsorbed calcium or magnesium, thereby damaging the soil structure.
Keywords: Coastal aquifer, Groundwater, Irrigation Water, Salinity, Sodium Absorption Ratio