Irrigation quality of ground water of twenty villages in Lahore district

A study was conducted in twenty villages of Lahore district to assess the suitability of ground water for irrigation. Three water samples were collected from each of twenty villages and were analyzed for electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and chloride concentration. Out of total 60 water samples, 7 (11.7%) were fit, 7 (11.7%) were marginally fit, and remaining 46 (76.6%) were unfit for irrigation. Twenty eight samples (46.6%) had electrical conductivity higher than permissible limit (i.e. 1250 μS cm^-1), 19 samples (31.6%) were found with high SAR (i.e. 10 (m mol L^-1)0.5), 44 samples (73.3%) had high RSC (i.e. 2.5 me L^-1) and 10 samples (16.6%) were found unfit for irrigation due to high concentration of chloride (i.e. 3.9 me L^-1). It can be inferred from data that quality of available ground water in most of the villages is not suitable for sustainable crop production and soil health.