Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia

AbstractThis study looked into the quality of groundwater in Hawassa City and its periphery as a baseline survey for the ‘Assessment of Feasibility of Managed Aquifer Recharge’. Water quality was assessed using four water quality indices. Weighted arithmetic Water Quality Index (WA-WQI), Synthetic P...

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Main Authors: Getahun Alemu, Awdenegest Moges, Sirak Tekleab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2023.2297495
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author Getahun Alemu
Awdenegest Moges
Sirak Tekleab
author_facet Getahun Alemu
Awdenegest Moges
Sirak Tekleab
author_sort Getahun Alemu
collection DOAJ
description AbstractThis study looked into the quality of groundwater in Hawassa City and its periphery as a baseline survey for the ‘Assessment of Feasibility of Managed Aquifer Recharge’. Water quality was assessed using four water quality indices. Weighted arithmetic Water Quality Index (WA-WQI), Synthetic Pollution Index (SPI), and Entropy Weighted Water Quality Index (EWQI) were used for domestic water quality assessment. Whereas, Overall Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQ), was used for irrigation water quality assessment. Accordingly, WA-WQI results showed that 6.25 and 93.75% of the water samples were very poor and poor quality status, respectively, making them unsafe for consumption. However, according to SPI, every water sample was unsuitable for usage as potable water. According to the EWQI model, the water quality status of 22.92, 58.33, and 18.75% of the water samples was average, poor, and extremely poor, respectively. Of the three models used for assessing water quality, SPI is the robust. The primary parameters in both models used to estimate the water quality statuses (68–89%) were F–, K+, BOD5, COD, and HCO3–. The Overall IWQ score indicated fair and moderate water quality levels (6.25 and 93.75%), respectively. Sodicity and toxicity hazard classes shared (47–80%) in determining the irrigation water quality status. This result indicates that the aquifer of the city is being contaminated. This requires enforcing strict standards in septic tank construction. Additionally, increasing groundwater recharge from precipitation sources during the rainy seasons to further dilute the concentration and increase aquifer volume is required.
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spelling doaj.art-d5fe63ec10e94650b09ed6e31e4f93292024-03-11T10:24:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Engineering2331-19162024-12-0111110.1080/23311916.2023.2297495Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern EthiopiaGetahun Alemu0Awdenegest Moges1Sirak Tekleab2Faculty of Bio-systems and Water Resources Engineering, Institute of Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, EthiopiaFaculty of Bio-systems and Water Resources Engineering, Institute of Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, EthiopiaEthiopian Institute of Water Resources, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaAbstractThis study looked into the quality of groundwater in Hawassa City and its periphery as a baseline survey for the ‘Assessment of Feasibility of Managed Aquifer Recharge’. Water quality was assessed using four water quality indices. Weighted arithmetic Water Quality Index (WA-WQI), Synthetic Pollution Index (SPI), and Entropy Weighted Water Quality Index (EWQI) were used for domestic water quality assessment. Whereas, Overall Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQ), was used for irrigation water quality assessment. Accordingly, WA-WQI results showed that 6.25 and 93.75% of the water samples were very poor and poor quality status, respectively, making them unsafe for consumption. However, according to SPI, every water sample was unsuitable for usage as potable water. According to the EWQI model, the water quality status of 22.92, 58.33, and 18.75% of the water samples was average, poor, and extremely poor, respectively. Of the three models used for assessing water quality, SPI is the robust. The primary parameters in both models used to estimate the water quality statuses (68–89%) were F–, K+, BOD5, COD, and HCO3–. The Overall IWQ score indicated fair and moderate water quality levels (6.25 and 93.75%), respectively. Sodicity and toxicity hazard classes shared (47–80%) in determining the irrigation water quality status. This result indicates that the aquifer of the city is being contaminated. This requires enforcing strict standards in septic tank construction. Additionally, increasing groundwater recharge from precipitation sources during the rainy seasons to further dilute the concentration and increase aquifer volume is required.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2023.2297495Water quality indexsynthetic pollution indexirrigation water quality indexsodicitytoxicitySanjay Kumar Shukla
spellingShingle Getahun Alemu
Awdenegest Moges
Sirak Tekleab
Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
Cogent Engineering
Water quality index
synthetic pollution index
irrigation water quality index
sodicity
toxicity
Sanjay Kumar Shukla
title Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
title_full Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
title_short Evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
title_sort evaluation of the groundwater quality status using water quality indices in and around hawassa city southern ethiopia
topic Water quality index
synthetic pollution index
irrigation water quality index
sodicity
toxicity
Sanjay Kumar Shukla
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2023.2297495
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AT siraktekleab evaluationofthegroundwaterqualitystatususingwaterqualityindicesinandaroundhawassacitysouthernethiopia