Evaluation of groundwater quality for irrigation in Bangladesh using Geographic information system

About 75% of water for irrigation in Bangladesh comes from groundwater. As the crop yield is directly related to quality of water used for irrigation, an assessment of groundwater suitability for irrigation is essential for the growth of food production and poverty eradication. An attempt has been made in this paper to study the suitability of groundwater for irrigation in Bangladesh. Geographic information system (GIS) is used for the processing of groundwater quality data collected from 113 locations sporadically distributed over the country and the preparation of groundwater quality maps. The result shows that groundwater of the southwestern part of Bangladesh, which comprises 22.5% area of the country, is highly affected by salinity and sodium hazards. Groundwater in 10.54% area of the country is also contaminated by Arsenic above the permissible level recommended for irrigation.