Assessment of Groundwater Quality in the Berrechid Aquifer, Central Morocco, Using Multivariate Statistics and Water Quality Indices

Groundwater salinity is a serious problem for water quality in the irrigated parts of arid and semi-arid regions, especially in the aquifers of Berrechid, Morocco. This study used a variety of techniques, including the Water Quality Index (WQI) and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Geographic Information System (GIS) to evaluate the quality of the groundwater for irrigation and domestic use in the Berrechid region in central Morocco. The goal of this study was to evaluate the quality of groundwater for irrigation and human consumption. The collection and analysis of twenty-two samples for ions was carried out, including, EC, Cl-, NO3-, NH4+, NO2-, Ca2+, Mg2+, pH, SO42-, Na+, K+, CO3-, HCO3-, and Mn2+. The Water Quality Index (WQI) was used to classify the water quality vis: excellent, good, average, poor and very poor. The research area’s water quality index (WQI) ranges from 43.89 to 439.34, with around 40.90% of samples having excellent water quality, 45.45% having poor water quality, 4.54% showing extremely bad water quality, and 9.09% having unsuitable quality for human consumption. The principal component analysis reveals that the average concentration of cations in groundwater was Na+> Mg2+> Ca2+> K+> Mn2+> NH4+, whereas the concentration of anions was Cl-> HCO3-> SO42-> NO3-> NO2-> CO32-. The correlation matrix was created and analyzed to determine its significance in groundwater quality assessment. The primary sources of pollution are household waste, exposed septic tanks, landfill leachate, and excessive fertilizer usage in agriculture and industrial operations. The current analysis demonstrates that the deteriorating groundwater quality in the region needs pre-consumption treatment and contamination risk prevention.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023).