QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF IRRIGATION WATER OF KANO RIVER IRRIGATION PROJECT (KADAWA SECTOR)
1 Department of Water Resources & Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
2 Centre for Irrigation and Desertification Studies, Federal University Gashua
* Corresponding author: nuhudeenzo@gjids.org.ng
2 Centre for Irrigation and Desertification Studies, Federal University Gashua
* Corresponding author: nuhudeenzo@gjids.org.ng
Abstract
The quality of water used for irrigation is a very important aspect of irrigated agriculture as the
use of poor quality irrigation water affects the crop and the physical conditions of the soil. This
work assessed the irrigation water quality of Kano River Irrigation Project (Kadawa sector).
Water samples for the pre and post irrigation water were collected and tested for electrical
conductivity, pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Calcium (Ca++), Magnesium (Mg++), Sodium
(Na+), Carbonate (CO3-), and Bicarbonate (HCO3-), Chloride (Cl-), Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N),
Ammonia-Nitrogen (NH3-N), Phosphate-Phosphorus (PO4-P), Potassium (K+) and Boron (B).
The result of the analysis showed that the salinity of the water was very low as the electrical
conductivity ranged from 0.063 - 0.065ds/m. The sodium adsorption ratio of the water was also
very low as it was calculated to range between 0.27 and 0.29. However, infiltration problems
might still arise even with the low sodium adsorption ratio due to low calcium/magnesium ratio
of the water (far less than 1). The sodium, chlorides and boron concentrations of the water
ranged between 0.23 and 0.26, 0.32 and 0.35, 0.82 and 0.91 respectively. However, the results
obtained revealed that the pre - irrigation water quality was within the limit for irrigation water
standard. On the other hand, the range for the post irrigation water quality samples collected
were as follows: pH (6.98 - 7.30), TDS (328 - 446 mg/l), SS (312 - 334 mg/l), Cl (11.3 - 12.1
mg/l), SO4 (1.2 - 1.4 mg/l), NO3 (15.92 - 17.64 mg/l), PO4(6.76 - 7.8 mg/l) DO (1.86 - 2.18
mg/l), BOD (38 - 44 mg/l) and COD (40.4 - 43.2 mg/l). These results showed shows that the post
irrigation water had high suspended solids and nutrients concentration. This indicates that its
disposal into water bodies through surface runoff may have detrimental effects.
Keywords
irrigation
water quality
salinity
crop yield
SAR
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How to Cite
O, N. Z., A, A., & B, I. F. (2016). QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF IRRIGATION WATER OF KANO RIVER IRRIGATION PROJECT (KADAWA SECTOR). Gashua Journal of Irrigation and Desertification Studies, 2(1), 89-99. https://doi.org/10.67390/gjids.2016.o3iw9t53
N. Z. O, A. A, and I. F. B, "QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF IRRIGATION WATER OF KANO RIVER IRRIGATION PROJECT (KADAWA SECTOR)," Gashua Journal of Irrigation and Desertification Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 89-99, May 2016. doi: 10.67390/gjids.2016.o3iw9t53
