Water quality monitoring of selected dug wells of central India with special L. N. Gupta a , G. S. Gupta a and Virendra Kumar Mishra b, * a Department of Energy and Environment, Faculty of Science and Environment, Pollution research laboratory, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, Chitrakoot 485780, Madhya Pradesh, India b Department of Environmental Science, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh 484887, India * Corresponding author. E-mail: virendra78@gmail.com Abstract Dug wells water is frequently used for irrigation of crops in India. The huge quantity of various toxic pollutants enters to ground water through anthropogenic and geogenic sources, which make the ground water, unfit for irrigation. Such water if used for irrigation may pose a serious risk to quality and quantity of crops and other things. The present study highlights the water quality monitoring of selected dug wells of Central India (Rajaula ward of Chitrakoot town). Different water quality parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, Ca þþ , Mg þþ , Na þ ,K þ , HCO 3 À , CO 3 À - chloride, sulfate, sodium percentage (Na %), magnesium hazards, sodium absorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), potential soil salinity and permeability index were investigated for monitoring of t0 assess its suitability for irrigation. Some models, i.e. Wilcox Diagram, U.S. Salinity diagrams, Doneen criterion, etc. were also used for conformation of dug well water quality for irrigation purpose. Results of the study indicated that all selected wells have mostly medium and high salinity, under limit of SAR, medium Na %, medium Mg hazards, under limit of RSC and low Cl À quantity. Key words: Doneen criterion, water quality, irrigation, Na%, RSC, SAR, U.S. Salinity Diagrams, Wilcox Diagram INTRODUCTION Ground water bodies mostly dug wells water is frequently used for irrigation of crops. Almost 35% of the total area in central India is irrigated by dug well. The huge quantity of various toxic pollutants enters to ground water through anthropogenic (domestic sewage, agriculture waste, disposal of large quantity of solid wastes and its open dumping) and geogenic sources (due to mineral’s abun- dance area). Also leaching, weathering, storm run-off, precipitation of rain etc. promote the above process and in long run water quality of dug wells is deteriorated. Such water when is used in agricul- ture for irrigation may pose a serious risk to quality and quantity of crops and other things (Laidlaw et al. 2015; Sappa et al. 2015; Vardanjani et al. 2015). Dug wells are one of the most important sources of irrigation in central India. Water quality of the dug well is one of the very important. Dug well water is mainly used for irrigation amid other ground water bodies. The high quantity of var- ious toxic pollutants from anthropogenic (domestic sewage, agriculture waste, municipal and industrial solid wastes) and geogenic sources (due to mineral’s abundance area) enter in ground water through leaching, weathering, storm run-off, precipitation of rain, etc. to the ground water bodies and thus deteriorates its quality (Nayer et. al. 2007; Nam et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015; Worqlul et al. 2015). In long run such water on irrigation may pose a serious risk in quality and quantity of crop as well as human health (Godfrey et al. 2011; Rahmana & Hasegawaa 2011). © IWA Publishing 2015 Water Practice & Technology Vol 10 No 4 652 doi: 10.2166/wpt.2015.076