GROUND WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT USING WATER QUALITY INDEX: CASE STUDY OF AYUB AGRICULTURE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58475/2025.63.4.1147Keywords:
Water quality index, irrigation, SAR, EC, infiltration rates, PakistanAbstract
Poor water quality index for groundwater in Pakistan is a pressing issue due to the increasing population, rapid urbanization, and industrialization. This has resulted in fertile and productive soil being converted to barren land, leading to significant reductions in infiltration rates and agricultural productivity. The aim of the study was to assess water quality monitoring in research areas of AARI using Water Quality Index (WQI) during the year 2023-24. Collected water samples (12 different sites) were analyzed at Soil and Water Testing Laboratory for Research, Faisalabad for WQI by using various physicochemical characteristics like EC, TDS, Cl, SAR and RSC. Electrical Conductivity (EC) for all 12 samples varied between 787 to 3529 µS/cm. On the basis of Fitness criteria water samples from only 2 sites S1 and S8 were under “fit” category, 3 sites (S4, S5, S12) were under “marginally fit” and remaining all samples were “unfit” for Irrigation because of high salt concentration (EC > 1250 µS cm -1 ). The WQI values obtained from the research areas ranged from 68.05 to 354.4. Samples were classified using the WQI classification criteria and it revealed that only 25% of the samples of the area were categorized as “good (WQI range 50-100),” 50% were rated as “poor” (WQI range 101-200), and the remaining 25% were classified as “very poor” (WQI range 201-300) quality water.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Sumreen Siddiq, Muhammad Aleem Sarwar, Quais Affan, Zia Chishti, Hina Nazir, Faraz Anwar, Kamra Mehmood, Hafsa Zafar, Arfan-ul-Haq (Author)
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