Groundwater Quality Assessment Using Geospatial Techniques and WQI in North East of Adama Town, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Assessment of groundwater quality is vital for the sustainable use of the resources for domestic and agricultural purposes. In this study spatial variation of physicochemical parameters were analyzed for Northeast Adama Town. Water Quality Index (WQI) and irrigation indices were used to determine the suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes, respectively. Further, the physical-chemical results were compared with the Ethiopian standards and the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking and public health. Using GIS interpolation methods in Arc GIS 10.3.1, spatial distribution maps of pH, TDS, EC, Cl−, HCO32−, SO42−, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+, RSC, SAR, Na% were prepared. Results indicated that except ASTU well 2, all samples are below the desirable limits of WHO. The WQI results indicated that 85% of samples and 15% of samples were in good and poor categories, respectively. Irrigation indices show that the most groundwater samples have excellent water classes, indicating that they are suitable for irrigation purposes.