Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

DOI 10.1007/s12517-014-1415-x

ORIGINAL PAPER

GIS applicability to assess spatio-temporal variation

of groundwater quality and sustainable use for irrigation
Partha Pratim Adhikary & H. Chandrasekharan &
S. M. Trivedi & Ch. Jyotiprava Dash

Received: 15 March 2013 / Accepted: 2 April 2014 / Published online: 22 April 2014
# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2014

Abstract Sustainable and safe use of groundwater requires

periodical monitoring of its quality. Because of the presence of
multiple contaminants, spatial variation of overall groundwater quality is difficult to describe. The present study describes
the overall groundwater quality for irrigation using a multicriteria quality assessment system and sustainability of water
use by incorporating the aspect of temporal variation of
groundwater quality. The GIS-based multi-criteria system effectively amalgamated different quality parameters into an
easily understandable format and assessed the spatial variation
of groundwater quality for irrigation in west Delhi, India. The
rate of spatial increment of poor quality groundwater within
the study period was 3.7 km2 per year. It has been observed
that there is deterioration of groundwater quality from southwest to east, along the general groundwater flow direction,
and improvement of groundwater quality from west to northeast, due to less urbanization and availability of groundwater
recharge zones with good quality water. Temporal variation of
groundwater quality is high (V>20 %) at northern part, moderate (V=1020 %) at middle and southern parts, and less (V
<10 %) at some pockets of southern part of the study area. The
overall groundwater quality coupled with its variation reveals
that while the groundwater use is mostly unsustainable in the
southern part, groundwater sustainability is constrained by
relatively poor and variable quality in western and northern
fringes of the study area.

P. P. Adhikary (*) : C. J. Dash

Central Soil and Water Conservation Research & Training Institute,
Research Centre, Koraput, Odisha 763002, India
e-mail: [email protected]
H. Chandrasekharan : S. M. Trivedi
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, PUSA, New Delhi 110012,
India

Keywords Delhi . GIS . Groundwater quality . Spatial

variation . Sustainable use . Temporal variation

Introduction
Optimum planning for judicious use of water resources is
important to meet the demand of the ever-growing population
in a city like Delhi, where demand of fresh water always
exceeds supply. The study area forms a part of peri-urban
areas, west Delhi, wherein rapid change of agricultural pattern, increase of agro-based industry, and use of polluted drain
water for irrigation cause significant deterioration in the quality of groundwater (Adhikary et al. 2010). The contaminated
groundwater cannot cleanse itself of degradable wastes very
rapidly as flowing surface water does (Poonam and Namita
2001). Groundwater movement being very slow hinders effective dilution and dispersion of contaminants. It may take
hundreds to thousands of years for contaminated groundwater
to cleanse itself of degradable wastes on a human time scale.
The concept of sustainable use appeared in the early 1980s,
which was based on judicious resource utilization to sustain
over a long period. Sustainable groundwater use is commonly
defined as development and use of groundwater resources in a
manner that can be maintained for an indefinite time without
causing unacceptable environmental, economic, or social consequences (Alley and Leake 2004). In recent years, research
on sustainable management of groundwater resources has got
international spotlight (Xu et al. 2005; Qureshi et al. 2010).
The groundwater resources need a sustainable use to maintain
them for future generations and to meet the constraining
factors in water management (Sophocleous 2005). Besides
the contaminant load in groundwater, other factors like soil
information and socioeconomic condition of the groundwater
users also play significant roles to achieve the water resources
sustainable development (Kawy 2012). Kritsotakis and Tsanis

2700

(2009) developed a surface-groundwater integrated program

for the sustainable water resources management.
Sustainability issue regarding groundwater use can easily be
addressed when a single parameter governs the quality, but in
practical sense, it is very complicated because of multiple
constituents.
Groundwater quality is the manifestation of combine
impact of various biological, physical, chemical, and radioactive attributes. However, for irrigation purpose, chemical attribute plays the most significant role. The overall
chemical quality of groundwater is very difficult to describe over space because of multiple contaminants.
Therefore, multiple criteria are necessary to ascertain the
combined effect of various contaminants on groundwater
quality. The distribution of combined groundwater quality
over space can be described by either traditional system or
the spatial interpolation capability of geographic information system (GIS).
The efficacy of traditional system has generally been
limited to the difficulty in acquiring useful information
over vast areas and the lack of means to effectively
process and analyze the acquired data (Dengiz et al.
2010). In addition to these, the vastness of various
factors associated with each feature under study makes
the manual methods too expensive and time consuming
(Aronoff 1989). During the last decade, GIS has received much attention in applications related to resources on large spatial scales (Chandio et al. 2012).
GIS is an important component for groundwater resources management and can help to identify and map
the zones of contaminated plumes in the aquifer (Arnous
and El-Rayes 2012), and delineate the areas suitable for
drinking and irrigation purposes (Adhikary et al. 2012).
Certain characteristics of the subsurface environment can
be shown quantitatively or qualitatively to determine the
vulnerability of groundwater to contamination (Al Hallaq
and Elaish 2012). Apart from delineating groundwater potential zones (Pradhan 2009; Manap et al. 2012; Manap
et al. 2013), GIS can also be used to identify potential
areas where groundwater recharge activities can be feasible
(Khodaei and Nassery 2013; Kaliraj et al. 2013), and to
obtain other reliable information about current groundwater
quality scenarios, essential for effective and efficient implementation of water management programs (Babiker et al.
2007; Neshat et al. 2013).
In this study, authors intended to describe the overall
groundwater quality for irrigation using a multi-criteria system
of different chemical quality parameters. Additionally, the
aspect of temporal variation of groundwater quality was incorporated to address the extent of water use sustainability.
Capabilities of GIS were used to implement the multi-criteria
and temporal aspect for mapping the areas suitable for sustainable use of groundwater for irrigation.

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

Materials and methods

Study area
The study area is situated between 76 50 24 and 77 02 15 E
and 28 39 41 and 28 30 19 N, and covers almost 189 km2
(Fig. 1). Najafgarh drain flows along the southern and eastern
boundary, and Kultana Chhudani Bupania drain along the northern boundary of the study area. The climate is subtropical
semiarid with an average annual rainfall and evaporation value
of about 700.8 and 2,565 mm, respectively (average of 30 years).
Southwest monsoon (July to September) contributes 84 % of
total rainfall. The monthly mean temperature ranges from 21 to
41C, while the annual mean temperature is 31.5C.
Soil and hydrogeology
The study area consists mainly of alluvial formation. Soils are
coarse loamy, mixed, hyperthermic, and Typic Haplustepts.
Most of the soils come under Palam series comprising of very
deep, yellowish brown alluvial soils with the presence of calcium
carbonate concretions to the extent of 1015 % by volume. The
surface soils comprise mostly of ferruginous lime quartzite,
granites, and schistose rock minerals. Weathering of plagioclase
feldspar and hornblende is mainly responsible for the development of high SAR and salinity (CGWB 2006).
The Alwar quartzite of Delhi system, exposed in the area,
belongs to Precambrian age. The quartzites are pinkish to grey
in color, hard, compact, highly jointed, fractured, and weathered. These appear with interbeds of mica-schist and are
intruded locally by pegmatite and quartz veins. The basement
or hard rock appears at 300-m-below ground level. The water
quality in general is poor due to the presence of saline aquifer
at shallow depth (CGWB 2006).
Natural vegetation and land use
Natural vegetation comprises of dry deciduous trees, shrubs,
and grasses. The land use has been changed significantly over
the years due to urbanization. Out of the total area, nearly 75 %
is cultivated, and the rest is occupied by habitats, roads, ponds,
forests, and so on. This area was well covered earlier with dense
vegetation. Pearl millet is the main rainy season crop along with
guar, chickpea, and green gram. These are followed by wheat
and mustard in winter. Farmers are now shifting towards floriculture and vegetable cultivation owing to nearness of Delhi.
Tube well is the main sources of irrigation, and the boring depth
ranges from 20 to 30 m (CGWB 2006).
Sampling and analytical techniques
Ninety three groundwater samples from hand pumps and dug
wells, situated at different locations of the study area (Fig. 1),

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

2701

Fig. 1 Map of the study area showing the location of observation wells

were collected for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007.
Geographical coordinates of each sampling location were
recorded using a handheld Global Positioning System
(GPS). A few locations were also cross-checked with a differential GPS. In the case of hand pumps, purging was done for
10 min to flush out the stagnant water retained in pipes. For
dug wells, it was checked that the well has been used daily to
ensure not to sample stale and stagnant water. The sampled
water was stored in soda lime glass storage bottles sealed with
bromobutyl synthetic rubber stopper. The collected samples

were analyzed in the laboratory to measure the concentration

of the hydrochemical parameters using standard procedures
(APHA 1995).
Formulation of multi-criteria system to determine the overall
groundwater quality and spatial analysis with GIS
Based on the actual concentration of chemical parameters in
the groundwater, and their cutoff values for irrigation use, set
by FAO (2003), a multi-criteria system was formulated

2702

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

(Table 1) to determine the overall groundwater quality.

Among the various chemical constituents, the most important
for irrigation water quality are the total concentration of soluble salts, represented by electrical conductivity (EC); the
relative proportion of sodium to calcium and magnesium,
computed as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR); carbonate hazard, represented by residual sodium carbonate (RSC), chloride
hazard; and the relative proportion of magnesium to calcium
(Mg/Ca ratio). Grouping of good, medium, and poor quality
water for irrigation owing to the presence of multiple pollutants in groundwater is presented in Table 1. Spatio-temporal
thematic maps of these five quality parameters were prepared
and classified based on the concentration of pollutants using
ordinary kriging interpolation technique of ArcGIS. These
five thematic maps were overlaid based on the multi-criteria,
Table 1 Criteria table for irrigation water quality rating using
five predominant groundwater
quality parameters prevailed in
the study area

and composite irrigation water quality maps for all the years
were prepared.
Temporal variation of groundwater quality and sustainability
of groundwater use for irrigation
The temporal variation of groundwater quality at a particular
point was determined by measuring the temporal coefficient
of variation (a measure of variability in time and expressed as
(standard deviation/mean)*100) of each groundwater quality
parameters of that point. The overall variation (V) of groundwater quality at each well was then calculated as:
V

1 XN
CV i
i 1
N

EC (dS m1)

Cl (me L1)

Mg/Ca

RSC (me L1)

SAR

Quality

<2.25

<12

<1.5

<1.25

1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
RSC
<1.25

<10
10 to 18
18 to 26
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR

Good
Good
Medium
Medium
Poor
Medium
Medium
Poor
Poor
Medium

1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
RSC
RSC
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
RSC
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5
>2.5
<1.25
1.25 to 2.5

SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR

Medium
Poor
Medium
Medium
Poor
Poor
Poor
Medium
Medium
Poor
Medium
Medium
Poor
Poor
Medium
Medium
Poor
Medium
Medium

>2.5
RSC
RSC
RSC

SAR
SAR
SAR
SAR

Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor

1.5 to 3.0

12 to 20

>3.0
<1.5

1.5 to 3.0

2.25 to 5.00

>20
<12

>3.0
Mg/Ca
<1.5

1.5 to 3.0

12 to 20

>3.0
<1.5

1.5 to 3.0

Mg/Ca Ratio between magnesium and calcium; RSC Residual

sodium carbonate; SAR Sodium
adsorption ratio

>5.00

>20
Cl

>3.0
Mg/Ca
Mg/Ca

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

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Table 2 Criteria table for sustainable use of groundwater for irrigation

using overall quality of groundwater and degree of temporal variation of
groundwater quality
Groundwater quality

Temporal variability

Sustainable use

Good

Low
Moderate
High
Low
Moderate
High
Low
Moderate
High

Sustainable
Sustainable
Doubtful
Doubtful
Doubtful
Unsustainable
Unsustainable
Unsustainable
Unsustainable

Medium

Poor

Spatial variability of groundwater quality parameters

Spatial variability is expressed as a semivariogram which is a
graphical representation of the mean square variability between the two neighboring points of distance h as shown in
Eq. 2:
N H

X
1
z xi h zxi 2
2 N h i 1

Where CVi is the variation coefficient of the ith parameter,

and N is the total number of parameters. The overall variation
was then separated into two types: long-term variation, showing the variation for 10 years, and short-term variation,
depicting the variation for 3 years. Short- and long-term
temporal variation maps were generated from the point data
using kriging interpolation technique. The temporal variation
maps were then integrated with the recent (year 2007) groundwater quality map, using the sustainability criteria as depicted
in Table 2 that the sustainability of water use increases when
groundwater quality improves and variation decreases.

Where (h) is the semivariogram expressed as a function of the magnitude of the lag distance or separation
vector h between the two pints, N(h) is the number of
observation pairs separated by distance h, and z(xi) is the
random variable at location x i . The experimental
semivariogram was fitted to a theoretical model, based
on highest R2 and lowest RSS, to determine the three
parameters, such as the nugget (C0), the sill (C + C0),
and the range (A0). Surface maps of all the groundwater
quality parameters were prepared using ordinary kriging
method. Ordinary kriging estimates the value of groundwater quality parameters at unsampled locations using
weighted linear combinations of known parameters located
within a neighborhood, centered around that particular
point.

Spatial autocorrelation of groundwater quality parameters

Cross validation of the predicted maps

Concentration of chemical constituents in groundwater, measured at several locations with discrete values, can be considered as random. But they show a certain degree of spatial
correlation with themselves. Therefore, to know the randomness of the sample points, the arrangement pattern of the wells
was analysed. Moreover, the spatial autocorrelation analysis
was carried out using GS + software to understand the correlation between the points and to visualize the spatial variability of the groundwater quality.

The accuracy and uncertainty of the groundwater quality maps

were evaluated with cross-validation approach (Davis 1987).
Mean absolute error (MAE) and mean squared error (MSE)
measure the accuracy of prediction, whereas goodness-ofprediction (G) measures the effectiveness of prediction.
MAE is expressed as the sum of the residuals:
MAE

N

1 X 
zo;i zp;i 0
Ni 1

Table 3 Statistical summary of the Morans I, the measure of spatial autocorrelation

Parameters

Morans I
Minimum

EC
Cl
Mg/Ca
RSC
SAR

Maximum

Average

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

0.22
0.18
0.29
0.17
0.21

0.17
0.22
0.24
0.17
0.21

0.15
0.24
0.11
0.20
0.10

0.15
0.22
0.11
0.17
0.10

0.74
0.44
0.12
0.46
0.67

0.79
0.64
0.11
0.43
0.59

0.73
0.72
0.36
0.40
0.77

0.74
0.77
0.38
0.39
0.77

0.13
0.07
0.03
0.06
0.12

0.14
0.11
0.03
0.04
0.11

0.13
0.13
0.04
0.07
0.12

0.13
0.15
0.04
0.06
0.12

2704

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

Table 4 Best-fit semivariogram models and semivariogram parameters of groundwater quality variables in the study area for the years 1997, 2004, 2006,
and 2007
Parameters

Semivariogram model

Sill, C0 + C

Nugget, C0
1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

Range, A0 (km)
2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

EC (dS m1)

Spherical

0.01

0.01

0.84

0.82

8.43

10.47

10.98

10.78

6.72

7.23

7.95

8.01

Cl (me L1)
Mg/Ca
RSC (me L1)
SAR
STV
LTV

Spherical
Exponential
Exponential
Exponential
Spherical
Spherical

26.28
0.02
35.55
0.01
39.62
52.96

33.56
0.01
45.37
0.01

47.24
0.01
62.9
0.01

76.17
0.01
72.2
0.10

446.25
0.59
135.34
14.67
46.24
59.09

553.42
0.59
192.41
13.70

739.15
0.53
214.64
16.62

708.73
0.52
225.95
32.48

7.26
4.61
12.66
5.89
11.51
11.03

7.77
4.32
13.50
5.94

7.88
5.01
30.96
6.64

8.37
5.07
32.81
6.83

STV Short-term variation; LTV Long-term variation

Where zo,i is the observed value at location i, zp,i is the

predicted value at location i, and N is the number of pairs of
observed and predicted values. MAE values near to zero
indicate better prediction. The MAE measure, however, does
not reveal the magnitude of error; hence, MSE is used as
squaring the difference at any point that gives an indication
of the magnitude:
N
2
1 X 
MSE
zo;i zp;i minimun
Ni 1

XN 

2

zo;i zp;i
6
6i 1
G 1 6
6 XN 
2
4
zo;i z

3
7
7
7  100
7
5

Results and discussion

Spatial interdependence of groundwater quality parameters

The G measure indicates the effectiveness of a prediction,

relative to that of sample mean.
2

predictions are less reliable than using sample mean as

the predictor.

i 1

Where z is the sample mean. G=100 indicates perfect

prediction, while negative values indicate that the

Spatial autocorrelation measures the level of interdependence

between the different variables and the nature and strength of
that interdependence. The result of pattern analysis indicated that
the sampling points were arranged in a complete spatial randomness. The probability of finding nine other points within a
specified distance of any point showed an exponential growth
with distance (Babiker et al. 2007). The spatial autocorrelation
coefficients or the Morans I values for the five groundwater
quality parameters are summarized in Table 3. As per the result,
Mg/Ca ratio and RSC showed a very weak positive autocorrelation or close to randomness (average Morans I>0, but very close
to zero), whereas EC, chloride, and SAR showed a weak negative autocorrelation (average Morans I<0, but close to zero). So,

Table 5 Performance of kriging maps of the groundwater quality parameters for irrigation in the study area for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007
along with their temporal variation
Parameters

EC (dS m1)
Cl (me L1)
Mg/Ca
RSC (me L1)
SAR
STV
LTV

MAE

MSE

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

0.014
0.186
0.098
0.182
0.112
0.086
0.048

0.047
0.146
0.047
0.214
0.125

0.221
0.162
0.138
0.226
0.108

0.004
0.134
0.022
0.174
0.098

0.011
0.026
0.004
0.044
0.047
0.024
0.012

0.014
0.008
0.018
0.052
0.028

0.049
0.047
0.092
0.055
0.016

0.002
0.006
0.007
0.016
0.012

36.21
29.81
8.92
5.86
20.14
28.19
32.22

33.97
26.87
2.44
10.14
16.29

35.55
24.92
11.37
12.74
12.38

37.00
30.16
9.06
11.84
22.18

MAE Mean absolute error; MSE Mean squared error; G Goodness of prediction

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

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Table 6 Descriptive statistics of groundwater quality parameters for irrigation in the study area for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007
Parameters

EC (dS m1)
Cl (me L1)
Mg/Ca
RSC (me L1)
SAR

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

SD

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1.80
8.41
0.64
34.16
3.03

2.42
11.34
0.66
36.64
3.50

1.98
5.26
0.60
48.93
2.62

2.04
2.36
0.62
51.78
4.28

11.80
85.80
4.22
3.66
17.25

13.24
95.65
4.61
3.04
17.43

14.96
98.85
4.99
2.53
18.64

14.99
95.58
5.00
2.36
26.19

5.49
30.18
1.76
12.45
8.50

6.47
35.59
1.69
15.32
8.96

6.41
35.89
1.68
18.46
8.90

6.64
34.78
1.67
18.48
12.79

2.97
20.62
0.77
10.12
3.85

3.25
23.61
0.75
9.74
3.73

3.23
23.06
0.71
11.11
3.98

3.20
23.30
0.71
11.39
5.55

all the groundwater quality parameters were independent to each

other and distributed randomly within the study area.
Semivariogram and groundwater quality parameters
Spherical model for EC, Cl, short-, and long-term variation of
groundwater quality and exponential model for Mg/Ca, RSC,
and SAR were found best fit. Table 4 shows the
semivariogram parameters (nugget, sill, and range) of groundwater quality variables for all the 4 years and temporal variations of groundwater quality. For EC and chloride, the range
varied from 6.728.01 and 7.268.37 km, respectively.
Therefore, EC and chloride at two locations were spatially
correlated with each other with a lag distance of less than
8 km; beyond this, they were randomly distributed. Mg/Ca
and SAR were spatially correlated for a shorter lag distance.
They became random beyond 5.07 and 6.83 km, respectively.
RSC showed comparatively higher spatial correlation distance. Beyond 32.81 km, it distributed randomly in space.
The temporal variations of groundwater quality showed spatial randomness beyond 11 km.
Nugget (C0) indicates the micro-scale variability and measurement error for the respective groundwater quality parameters, whereas sill (C) indicates the amount of variation which
can be defined by spatial correlation structure. For all the
groundwater quality parameters except RSC, nugget component was less than 10 % of the total variation. For RSC, it
varied between 19 and 24 %. So the spatial correlation

structure of the quality parameters was very good. Out of the

total variation, nugget component was nearly 50 % for the
temporal variability component, which shows that the microscale variation of this property was relatively high. SAR was
found to be the best in terms of spatial correlation structure.
Cross validation
Evaluation indices resulting from cross-validation of spatial
maps of groundwater quality parameters are presented in
Table 5. G value was greater than zero for all the quality
parameters, which indicated that the spatial prediction using
semivariogram parameters was better than assuming mean of
observed value as the standard value for any unsampled location.
The semivariogram parameters obtained from fitting of experimental semivariogram values were reasonable to describe the
spatial variation. Inclusion of more number of samples might
have led to better fitting of experimental semivariogram. The
MAE and MSE were consistently hovered around zero, also
indicated higher predictability and less uncertainty.
Spatio-temporal variation of individual groundwater quality
parameters
EC
The EC ranged from 1.8011.80, 2.4213.24, 1.9814.96, and
2.0414.99 dS m1, with average values of 5.49, 6.47, 6.41, and

Table 7 Delineated area under different concentration level of individual groundwater quality parameter based on the suitability for irrigation purpose
Parameters

Area (% of total study area)

Low level

EC
Cl
Mg/Ca
RSC
SAR

Medium level

High level

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

1997

2004

2006

2007

49.1
37.4
30.3
86.0
79.2

37.7
35.4
38.6
80.1
78.4

35.1
27.9
44.7
86.7
72.9

28.7
31.2
47.2
97.9
36.9

22.3
27.2
55.9
12.6
20.8

23.0
23.0
48.6
18.9
21.6

26.1
25.0
42.6
12.1
25.1

29.7
23.1
40.9
2.1
54.6

28.7
35.4
13.8
1.4
0.0

39.3
41.6
12.7
1.1
0.0

38.8
47.1
12.8
1.2
2.0

41.5
45.7
11.8
0.0
8.5

2706

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

Fig. 2 Map displaying the spatial variation of overall groundwater quality for irrigation in the study area for the years a 1997, b 2004, c 2006, and d 2007

Table 8 Delineated area under

different level of overall groundwater quality for irrigation in the
study area

#
Data within the parenthesis indicate percent delineated area

Groundwater Quality

Good
Medium
Poor

Area (km2)
1997

2004

2006

2007

38.6 (20.4)#
85.1 (45.0)#
65.4 (34.6)#

44.5 (23.5)#
70.5 (37.3)#
74.0 (39.2)#

44.1 (23.4)#
54.8 (29.0)#
90.1 (47.7)#

23.3 (12.3)#
59.4 (31.5)#
106.3 (56.2)#

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

Fig. 3 Map displaying the degree
of temporal variability of
groundwater quality for irrigation
across the study area: a Shortterm variability and b long-term
variability

2707

2708

6.64 dS m1 for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007, respectively (Table 6). The range, mean, and standard deviation values
revealed considerable spatial dispersion. During 1997, 28.7 % of
the area was prone to high groundwater salinity, but in 2007, the
same has been increased to 41.5 % (Table 7). Highly saline
groundwater plumes were mostly found at southwestern and
southeastern parts of the study area, covering the villages of
Daurala, Ghalibpur, Raota, Ghummanhera, Raghopur,
Badusarai, and Kangan Heri. From there, they were drifting
towards more urbanized central and northeastern directions.
The high salinity was mainly attributed to high chloride content
(Adhikary et al. 2009). Low saline groundwater was found at
northern and western edges of the study area, suitable for irrigating most of the crops on light to medium textured soils and
semitolerant crops on heavy textured soils.

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

of magnesium or increase of calcium concentration in the

groundwater. Critical analysis of the data revealed that both
magnesium and calcium concentrations in the groundwater have
been increased over time, but the rate of increment of calcium
was more than that of magnesium. The sources of Ca and Mg in
the groundwater were calcite (CaCO 3 ), dolomite
(CaCO3MgCO3), and silicate minerals. The dissolution of Ca
and Mg from silicate minerals and dolomite was nearly the same
and contributed at the same rate in the solution form. But the
dissolved calcium from calcite minerals further increased the
concentration of Ca. The spatial distribution of Mg/Ca ratio
was scattered and mainly concentrated in few pockets. During
1997, two pockets at southern and eastern parts of the study area
showed high hazard, but during 2007, the southern zone has
been shifted to central part of the study area.

Chloride
RSC
High chloride in groundwater used to originate from natural as
well as anthropogenic sources. Irrigation with such water can
cause severe crop damage. Wells having high chloride concentration were located towards southern, southeastern, and
southwestern parts of the study area. Good quality water was
expected near Mitraon, Surkhpur, Jharoda Kalan, Qazipur,
and few pockets in the eastern part. The similarity of spatial
distribution between EC and chloride confirmed the fact that
high salinity was mainly attributed to high chloride concentration in the groundwater (Adhikary et al. 2009). Chloride
content of the groundwater samples varied from 8.4185.80,
11.3495.65, 5.2698.85, and 2.3695.58 me L1 for the
years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007, respectively (Table 6).
The spatio-temporal variation of chloride revealed that during
1997, only 35.4 % of the study area was affected by high
chloride problem, but in 2007, 45.7 % of the area became
unsafe (Table 7). These waters were suitable for irrigating
chloride tolerant crops only. This high level of chloride in
the groundwater was due to cumulative effect of silicate
weathering, use of sewage water for irrigation, and indiscriminate use of fertilizers and other agrochemicals.
Magnesium/Calcium ratio
Descriptive statistics of Mg/Ca ratio in the study area are presented in Table 6. It ranged from 0.644.22, 0.664.61, 0.60
4.99, and 0.625.00 with average values of 1.76, 1.69, 1.68, and
1.67 for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007, respectively. The
spatio-temporal variation of Mg/Ca ratio showed that within a
period of 10 years, the areal distribution of high Mg hazard has
been decreased from 13.8 % in 1997 to 11.8 % in 2007 (Table 7).
The decrement of medium level of Mg/Ca ratio was very sharp.
In 1997, 55.9 % of the study area was under medium Mg hazard,
which has been decreased to 40.9 % during 2007. The decrement
of Mg/Ca ratio was due to either slowing down of the dissolution

High value of RSC in water leads to an increase in the

absorption of sodium on soil particles (Eaton 1950). The
development of alkaline soils may be expected when water
containing (CO3 + HCO3) higher than (Ca++ + Mg++) is
used for irrigation. High concentrations of bicarbonate ions
tend to precipitate as carbonate of calcium and, to some extent,
magnesium, therefore, reducing the concentrations of calcium
and magnesium, increasing the relative proportion of sodium.
The interesting finding is that, in the study area, the carbonate
hazard has been decreased over time. In 1997, nearly 1.4 % of
the study area was unsafe in terms of RSC values, but in 2007,
the bicarbonate hazard was absent (Table 7). The RSC values
ranged from 34.163.66, 36.643.04, 48.932.53, and
51.782.36 me L1 for the years 1997, 2004, 2006, and
2007, respectively (Table 6). The average values for all the
years were well below the maximum permissible limit
(2.5 me L1). Only few pockets at the northern border of the
study area showed bicarbonate hazard leaving rest of the area
with medium or no hazard. It was also observed that the RSC
value was high where the salinity was low. This happened
because calcium carbonate and bicarbonates (responsible for
high RSC) were less soluble in water than chloride salts
(responsible for high EC).
Table 9 Delineated area under different levels of variability of overall
groundwater quality for irrigation in the study area
Variability

Low
Moderate
High

Short-term variability

Long-term variability

Area (km2)

Area (%)

Area (km2)

Area (%)

14.8
154.6
19.7

7.8
81.8
10.4

4.5
98.6
85.8

2.4
52.2
45.4

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

Fig. 4 Sustainability of
groundwater use for irrigation in
west Delhi: a Short-term use and
b long-term use

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Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

SAR

Table 10 Delineated area under sustainable/unsustainable use of groundwater for irrigation in the study area

There is a significant relationship between sodium concentration in irrigation water and the extent to which sodium is
absorbed by the soils. Alkali hazard of the irrigation water is
determined by SAR. If the proportion of Na is high, the alkali
hazard is also high. SAR values of groundwater collected
from the study area varied from 3.0317.25, 3.5017.43,
2.6218.64, and 4.2826.19 for the years 1997, 2004, 2006,
and 2007, respectively (Table 6). Spatial and temporal analysis of the groundwater samples revealed that during 1997 and
2004, total study area was under S 1 and S 2 (USDA
Classification) classes, but in 2007, the same has been reduced
to 91.5 % (Table 7). Although the sodicity problem is not so
severe, the rate of increment of S2 class is alarming. The
spatial distribution of SAR showed that high sodicity was
evidenced at southwestern part of the study area, and the
migration of plume was directed to north and northeast.

Use

Overall groundwater quality for irrigation

Figure 2 illustrates pictorially of the spatial variation of
groundwater quality for irrigation as good, medium, and poor,
and their temporal pattern during the last 10 years. Good
quality water can be used for irrigation with little precautionary measures, medium quality water can also be used with
some precautions, and it is better not to use poor quality water.
Good quality groundwater was mainly strewn at western and
northern fringes of the study area, while poor quality groundwater was located at southern and central parts. From the
multi-criteria map, it has been found that within a span of
10 years there was a spatial decrement of 8.1 and 13.5 % area
for good and medium quality groundwater, respectively, and
21.6 % spatial increment for poor quality groundwater
(Table 8). The rate of increment of poor quality groundwater
was 3.7 km2 per year. During 2007, the areal extent of
groundwater unsuitable for irrigation was approximately
106.3 km2. So there is an urgent need of taking precautionary
measures to improve the current situation.
Two gradients of groundwater quality were observed in the
study area (Fig. 2). First, there was a deterioration of groundwater quality from southwest to east, along the general
groundwater flow direction, attributed mainly to the shallow
groundwater table (fast contaminant percolation) in the east.
In addition to that, the eastern and southern parts of the study
area were characterized by high urbanization, leading to increased chance of anthropogenic contamination. Highly polluted Nafafgarh drain water at southern and eastern border of
the study area also contributed for groundwater pollution. The
second gradient was the improvement of groundwater quality
from west to northeast. Low level of urbanization and availability of groundwater recharge zones with good quality water
were the reasons behind it.

Short-term use
Area (km2)

Long-term use
Area (%)

Area (km2)

Area (%)

Sustainable

23.4

12.4

13.7

7.2

Doubtful
Unsustainable

58.6
107.1

31.0
56.6

25.4
149.9

13.5
79.3

Temporal variation of groundwater quality and sustainability

for irrigation use
Temporally, groundwater quality was highly variable (V>
20 %) at northern part, moderately variable (V=10-20 %) at
middle and southern parts, and less variable (V<10 %) at some
pockets at southern part of the study area. The trend was same
for both short- and long-term variation with different degree of
variability (Fig. 3). When variation was considered for 3 years
(20042007), groundwater of only 10.4 % area was under high
variability. But for 10 years (19972007) duration, the spread of
high variability was calculated as 45.4 % of the study area
(Table 9). This spread of high variability at northern part was
attributed to the practice of different types of irrigation schedule, mixing of groundwater of variable chemical concentration
through different wells, and use of variable amount of agrochemicals and other anthropogenic activities like presence of
high number of industrial waste disposal sites.
Thus, the multi-year data has been provided a tool for estimating the degree of temporal variation of groundwater quality in
the study area. This, combined with groundwater quality results,
has been helped to delineate regions underlain by relatively fair
and stable groundwater quality. Figure 4 pictorially demonstrates
the areas where groundwater can be used for irrigation on
sustainable basis. Based on spatial distribution and temporal
variation of groundwater quality for irrigation use, it has been
found that groundwater of 12.4 % of the study area is sustainable
when short term variation was considered. The sustainable area
has been decreased to 7.2 % when long-term variation was
considered (Table 10). Maximum area is under unsustainable in
terms of groundwater use for irrigation, because of high pollution
level and high variability of the groundwater in the study area.
There are some doubtful areas situated at the outer edges of
sustainable areas. The groundwater of these regions can be used
consciously for longer time periods unless intrusion of new
pollutants to the groundwater system is recognized.

Conclusions
The GIS-based multi-criteria system effectively synthesized different groundwater quality parameters into an easily understood

Arab J Geosci (2015) 8:26992711

format. This has been provided a way to summarize the overall

groundwater quality in a manner that can be clearly communicated to different audiences and to understand whether overall
quality of groundwater posed a potential threat to particular use.
The proposed GIS-based multi-criteria system delineated the
spatial variation of groundwater quality for irrigation of west
Delhi, India, and indicated that the water quality of the area was
generally poor. The rate of spatial increment of poor quality
groundwater within the study period was 3.7 km2 per year.
Two gradients of groundwater quality were observed in the study
area. First, there was a deterioration of groundwater quality from
southwest to east, along the general groundwater flow direction,
attributed mainly to the shallow groundwater table in the east and
the increase of input of pollutants from urban areas. The second
gradient was the improvement of groundwater quality from west
to northeast due to low level of urbanization and availability of
groundwater recharge zones with good quality water.
Groundwater quality was highly variable (V>20 %) at northern
part, moderately variable (V=10-20 %) at middle and southern
parts, and less variable (V<10 %) at some pockets at southern
part of the study area. Integration of multi-criteria and temporal
variation indicated that in the western and northern fringes of
west Delhi the sustainable use of groundwater was constrained
by relatively poor and variable groundwater quality.
Acknowledgments The financial assistance given by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi in the form of Senior Research
Fellow and the facilities provided by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to carry out the work is highly acknowledged. Authors
also acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for meticulous review and
improvement of the manuscript.

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