303944

Hydro-Chemical Study of The Cambrian-Ordovician Saq aquifer, Al Qassim province – KSA

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

-

Abstract

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is challenging the extreme water demands and deficiency of water resources. Al Qassim Province is characterized by intensive agricultural utilities and in turns great water supply that irrigated mainly from the Cambrian-Ordovician Saq Aquifer. The present study, based on hydro-chemical data from 26 groundwater wells, focus on assessing the groundwater quality and allocating the best borehole locations. These goals achieved through comprehensive hydro-chemical analyses of water samples. The suitability of the groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes was assessed, based on hydro-chemical data, according to the standard guideline's values. The results indicate that the Cambrian-Ordovician Saq aquifer is the crucial aquifer in the province, which is detached into two sub-aquifers. The upper sub-aquifer is encountered at depths range from 110m to 130m bgl (below ground level), with overall thickness ranges from 200 to 250 m. The total dissolved solids (TDS) vary from 400 to 800mg/l indicating fresh-brackish water-bearing zones. The lower sub-aquifer is located at depths range from 360m to 400m, with extra saline water characteristics rather than the upper ones, with TDS variance from 600-1425mg/l. Water quality indices include such: sodium content (SC); Chloro-alkalinity index (CAI); sodium adsorption ratio (SAR); and Corrosively Ratio (CR) appraise the suitability of groundwater for municipal activities, agricultural purposes and irrigation utilities. Preceding exploitation further studies and simulation are highly recommended to establish a sustainable level of abstraction besides assessing the vulnerability to protect from pollution.

DOI

10.21608/joese.2022.92375.1009

Keywords

Hydrochemical, Groundwater, Ordovician, saq, Qassim

Authors

First Name

Ragab

Last Name

El Sherbini

MiddleName

Attia

Affiliation

Geology - Faculty of Science - Mansoura university

Email

rgbatia@gmail.com

City

Mansoura

Orcid

0000-0003-0198-5529

Volume

51

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

33284

Issue Date

2022-03-01

Receive Date

2021-08-23

Publish Date

2022-03-01

Print ISSN

1110-192X

Online ISSN

2090-9233

Link

https://joese.journals.ekb.eg/article_303944.html

Detail API

https://joese.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=303944

Order

303,944

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,447

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of Environmental Sciences. Mansoura University

Publication Link

https://joese.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Hydro-Chemical Study of The Cambrian-Ordovician Saq aquifer, Al Qassim province – KSA

Details

Type

Article

Created At

26 Dec 2024