TY - JOUR ID - 90537 TI - Assessment of Hydrochemical Characteristics and Groundwater Suitability for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes in Garmsar Plain, Iran JO - Geopersia JA - GEOPE LA - en SN - 2228-7817 AU - Fijani, Elham AU - Meysami, Sahar AD - School of Geology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Y1 - 2023 PY - 2023 VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 83 EP - 102 KW - Garmsar plain KW - Groundwater quality KW - Water type KW - Irrigation Water Quality Index KW - health risk assessment KW - Iran DO - 10.22059/geope.2022.350089.648680 N2 - Groundwater is an important water supply for irrigation and drinking purposes in semi-arid regions. In the Garmsar Plain, Iran, groundwater has severely deteriorated during recent years due to human activities and environmental changes. Hence, the main purpose of the current research is to investigate the chemical processes that control hydrochemistry and assess the groundwater quality to determine its suitability for irrigation and drinking uses and potential human health risks. Analysis results of the groundwater samples revealed that the most common water type is the sodium chloride type (82%) in the Garmsar Plain, followed by the mixed Ca-Mg-Cl type (18%). The main processes that contribute to groundwater chemistry are the dissolution along the flow path, evaporation, rock water interaction, ion exchange, and the mixing processes. According to the Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI), 51% of samples represent a severe restriction category and the remaining 49% constitute a high restriction class which reveals moderate to high salt tolerance, indicating that salt plants under some irrigation conditions can be cultivated in the Garmsar Plain. Based on human health considerations, 33%, 31%, 46%, 44%, 95%, and 77% of the groundwater samples are classified as poor water because of their high concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, HCO3-, Cl-, and SO42-, respectively. Drinking this water may cause a risk to human health, therefore management strategies are required for sustainable groundwater quality protection in the Garmsar Plain before using it for irrigation and drinking purposes. UR - https://geopersia.ut.ac.ir/article_90537.html L1 - https://geopersia.ut.ac.ir/article_90537_71430a642e91ca6b7da5c012ed84d8d1.pdf ER -