Evaluating the Groundwater Quality for Irrigation of the Western Limestone Plateau in Assuit Region, Egypt.

The western desert of Egypt is an area of the natural extension for agricultural, industrial, and civil activities. The expansion requires a great demand for groundwater on the western limestone plateau in the central part of Egypt. Ten groundwater samples were collected from limestone Eocene aquifer wells located in the western desert, Assiut region.to evaluate the quality of these well waters for irrigation. The area under consideration lies between latitudes 27o 7' 540" - 27o 34' 474" N and longitudes 30o 39' 487" - 30o 53' 244"E. The chemical properties of groundwater of the investigated aquifer wells were determined, such as, major ions, pH, EC, TDS, SAR, RSC, RSCB, SSP, magnesium hazard (MH), total hardness (TH) and permeability index (PI). The concentration of the cations in the groundwater of the study area is in the order of Na+ > Ca 2+ > Mg2+ > K+ and that of the anions is in the order of Cl> HCO3 2> SO4 2 .Values of the groundwater quality show that the water is suitable for the irrigation use, except the EC values of some wells that have a moderately saline water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]