Quality of Irrigation Water

Quality of Irrigation Water
All natural waters used for irrigation contains inorganic salts in solutions which are derived
originally from the rocks or solid phase material through which water percolates. The most
common dissolved constituents are chlorides, sulphates and bicarbonates of Ca, Mg and Na.
The concentration and proportion of these salts determine the suitability of water for
irrigation. Other constituent such as B, Li, F or other ions, which have a toxic effect on
plants, may occur in lesser amounts in irrigation water. If water used for irrigation contains
excessive quantities of the constituents noted above, it might affect the growth of plants in
three ways viz.,
(a) As a result of adverse changes in the physical characteristics of the soil,
(b) The increased osmotic pressure of the soil solution may decrease the physiological
availability of moisture to plants,
(c) Accumulation of certain ions in the soil solution may have a specific toxic effect upon the
physiological processes of the plant.
Therefore, the question arises “What should be the ideal quality of water to be used for
irrigation?” Different workers for judging the quality of waters have proposed various
standards.
The five generally recognized criteria for judging the quality of irrigation water are as
under:
1. Salinity hazard: Continuous use of water having high salt content will convert a
normal soil into a saline soil. On the basis of electrical conductivity (EC)
measurements, the waters were divided into four classes as follows:
Conductivity
Class Symbol Inference
(dS/m)
(i) Can be used for most soil for

Low
0.00 – 0.25 C1 most crops
salinity
(ii) Little likelihood of salinity
(i) Can be used with moderate

Medium leaching
0.25 – 0.75 C2
salinity (ii) Moderate salt tolerant
crops should be grown
High (i) Cannot be used where drainage

0.75 – 2.25 C3
salinity is restricted
Very high
2.25 – 5.00 C4 (i) Not suitable for irrigation
salinity
2. Alkali hazard: The continuous use of water having high concentration of Na will
convert a normal soil into an alkali soil. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR)
developed by USSSL expresses the relative activity of Na ions in cation exchange
reactions with the soil. The exchangeable Na percentage (ESP), which the soil will
attain when the soil and water are in equilibrium, can be predicted approximately
from the value of SAR of water. Accordingly, the waters are divided into four classes
with respect to the Na hazards as follows:
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
SAR
Class Symbol Inference
value
(i) Can be used for all soils with little danger of

Low Na
0 – 10 S1 harmful Na level development.
water
(ii) The Na sensitive crops are affected.
10 – Medium (i) Sodium hazard likely in fine textured soil.

S2
18 Na water (ii) Can be used on soils having high permeability.
(i) May produce harmful level of exchangeable Na in

most soils except gypsiferous soils.
High Na
18– 26 S3 (ii) Requires special management practice like good
water
drainage, high leaching and addition of organic matter
and gypsum.
Unsatisfactory for irrigation except at low and

Very high
> 26 S4 perhaps medium salinity of irrigation water, special
Na water
management as above should be made.
3. Bicarbonate hazard: The bicarbonate ions are primarily important because their
tendency to precipitate Ca and to some extent Mg, in the soil solution as their normal
carbonates e.g.
Ca + 2HCO3 → CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O
The CO3-2 ions are seldom present in water but HCO 3- ions may be present in appreciable
proportion of the total anions present in irrigation waters. Based on the theory of
precipitation of Ca and Mg, Eaton (1950) suggested the concept of “Residual Sodium
Carbonate” commonly known as RSC. The RSC can be found out by following equation:
RSC = (CO32- + HCO3-) - (Ca2+ + Mg2+)
Where; concentrations of all ions are expressed in meq/l.
The standard for RSC as given by USSSL as follows:

RSC
Quality of irrigation water
(meq/lit)
Less than 1.25 Probably safe for most purpose
Marginal can be used on light textured soil with adequate

1.25 – 2.50
leaching and application of gypsum
More than 2.50 Not suitable for irrigation purposess
4. Boron hazard: Boron is very toxic to plants at low concentration in the soil solution.
Because boron tends to accumulate in the soil from even low concentration in the
irrigation waters, it is necessary to consider this constituent in assessing the quality of
irrigation waters. The USDA has suggested the type of crops to be grown with respect
to boron content in irrigation water. The limits are as under:
Boron content of Boron

irrigation water tolerance of Crops to be grown
(ppm) crops
Citrus, Apricot, Peach, Apple, Pear, Plum,

0.3 – 1.0 Sensitive
walnut
Sweet potato, Oats, Sorghum, Maize,

1.0 – 2.0 Semi-tolerant Wheat, Barley, Radish, Peas, Tomato,
Cotton, Potato, Sunflower
Carrot, Cabbage, Onion, Beans, Sugar

2.0 – 4.0 Tolerant
beet, Alfalfa, Date
5. Other hazards:
(i) Chlorides: The grading of irrigation waters based on chloride content as proposed
by Schofield is as under:
Chloride (meq/lit) Class
0–4 Excellent
4–7 Good
7 – 12 Permissible
12- 20 Doubtful
More than 20 Unsafe
(ii) Other elements: The safe limit for other elements present in irrigation water is as
follows:
For waters used continuously For used up to 20 years on fine textured

Element
on all soil (ppm) soil at pH 6.0 to 8.5 (ppm)
Al 5.00 20.00
Arsenic 0.10 2.00
Cu 0.20 5.00
Fluorine 1.00 15.00
Lead 5.00 10.00
Lithium 2.50 2.60
Mn 0.20 10.00
Mo 0.01 0.05
Se 0.02 0.02
Zn 2.00 10.00
Fe 5.00 20.00
Suitability of irrigation water:
The suitability of irrigation water (SI) will be determined by following factors:
(a) Quality of irrigation water: Amount, nature and proportion of various cations and
anions present in the water.
(b) Nature of the soil to be irrigated: Texture, structure, drainage, permeability, depth of
water table, chemical composition of the soil, pH, and CaCO3 content will determine the
effect of irrigation water on the soil.
(c) Nature of the crop plants to be grown: water, which may not be suitable for very
sensitive crop, may be excellent for tolerant crops.
(d) Climatic conditions: High temperature and less humidity will require more number of
irrigation.

Quality of Irrigation Water

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Quality of Irrigation Water

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Quality of Irrigation Water

(i) Can be used for most soil for

(i) Can be used with moderate

High (i) Cannot be used where drainage

(i) Can be used for all soils with little danger of

10 – Medium (i) Sodium hazard likely in fine textured soil.

(i) May produce harmful level of exchangeable Na in

Unsatisfactory for irrigation except at low and

The standard for RSC as given by USSSL as follows:

Less than 1.25 Probably safe for most purpose

Marginal can be used on light textured soil with adequate

More than 2.50 Not suitable for irrigation purposess

Boron content of Boron

Citrus, Apricot, Peach, Apple, Pear, Plum,

Sweet potato, Oats, Sorghum, Maize,

Carrot, Cabbage, Onion, Beans, Sugar

More than 20 Unsafe

For waters used continuously For used up to 20 years on fine textured

Arsenic 0.10 2.00

Fluorine 1.00 15.00

Lead 5.00 10.00

Lithium 2.50 2.60

Suitability of irrigation water:

The suitability of irrigation water (SI) will be determined by following factors:

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