Assessment of groundwater and soil quality for agricultural purposes in Kopruoren basin, Kutahya, Turkey

This research evaluated the irrigation water and agricultural soil quality in the Kopruoren Basin by using hierarchical cluster analysis. Physico-chemical properties and major ion chemistry of 19 groundwater samples were used to determine the irrigation water quality indices. The results revealed out that the groundwaters are in general suitable for irrigation and have low sodium hazard, although they are very hard in nature due to the dominant presence of Ca+2, Mg+2 and HCO3− ions. Water samples contain arsenic in concentrations below the recommended guidelines for irrigation (59.7 ± 14.7 μg/l), however, arsenic concentrations in 89% of the 9 soil samples exceed the maximum allowable concentrations set for agricultural soils (81 ± 24.3 mg/kg). Nickel element, albeit not present in high concentrations in water samples, is enriched in all of the agricultural soil samples (390 ± 118.2 mg/kg). Hierarchical cluster analysis studies conducted to identify the sources of chemical constituents in water and soil samples elicited that the chemistry of the soils in the study area are highly impacted by the soil parent material and both geogenic and anthropogenic pollution sources are responsible for the metal contents of the soil samples. On the other hand, water chemistry in the area is affected by water-rock interactions, anthropogenic and agricultural pollution.