HYDROCHEMICAL FACIES DESCRIPTION TO ASSESS THE WATER QUALITY OF HABBANIYA LAKE, IRAQ

Abstract

The present study depicts the hydrochemical processes controlling the variance in the hydrochemical facies for sixteen samples obtained from Habbaniya Lake. The water samples were analyzed for the major ions (cations and anions) data in mg/l, total dissolved solids in mg/l, pH unitless, electrical conductivity in μS/cm, and temperature in °C. Piper trilinear (three-line) diagram indicate the overall of samples belongs to class 1 (Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, SO42-), category I (SO42- - Cl- and Ca2+ - Mg2+) and permanent total hardness (calcium chloride type). The contribution of cations in the Habbaniya lake was almost the same percentage (no dominant cation), while the SO42- is the dominant ion of the surface water in the Habbaniya lake. The analytical values showed that overall the samples were freshwater and low enrichment salts within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization standards. Irrigation parameters and water quality index were calculated for samples to assess water for agricultural and drinking uses for the inhabitants of the study area. The basic exchange is the exchange of Na+ and K+ ions in water with Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions in materials which is exposed to weathering.