Hydrochemistry and Quality Assessment of Water in Tannur Dam, Southern Jordan

Abstract

The study was undertaken to assess the physicochemical and chemical quality of the Tannur dam water in southern Jordan. The water samples were collected in two intervals the first during May 2015 and the second during September 2015. All samples were analyzed for temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+), and major anions (Cl-, NO3-, HCO3- and SO42-). The hydrogeochemical analyses of thirty-six water samples were used to determine the properties and type of water in the Tannur dam. The ion concentration in the water samples was from dissolution of carbonate rocks and ion exchange processes in clay. The general chemistry of water samples was typical alkaline earth waters with prevailing bicarbonate chloride. The PHREEQC Hydrogeochemical modeling was used to obtain the saturation indices of specific mineral phases, which might be related to interaction with water and aquifer, and to identify the chemical species of the dissolved ions. Calcite and dolomite solubility were assessed in terms of saturation index where they show positive values indication oversaturated SI > 0. The hydrogeochemistry behavior is rather complicated and is affected by anthropogenic and natural sources. The positive correlation values between various parameters indicate that most of ions result from same lithological sources. The abundance of the major ions in water samples is in the following order: HCO3-> Ca2+ > Cl- > NO3- > SO42-) > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+. Water samples of the Tannur dam are generally very hard, high to very high saline and medium alkaline in nature. High total hardness (TH) and total dissolved solids (TDS) in some samples identify the permissible for domestic and irrigation purposes. According to the residual sodium carbonate, SAR and conductivity values, the studied water is suitable for agricultural purposes.