Evaluation of Springs Water Quality of West Azerbaijan Province in Terms of Emitters Clogging Potential in Drip Irrigation Systems

Because of environmental crises duo to drying of Lake Urmia, the need for applying high efficiency irrigation systems is important in this watershed. Drip irrigation systems are suitable solutions for optimal use of water resources. Drip irrigation implementation requires analysis of water quality to avoid emitters clogging. In this study, qualitative parameters of springs in part of West-Azerbaijan province including the electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and Langelier saturation index  (LSI), were determined and investigated for application in drip irrigation systems in the study area. So, quality information of 1705 springs in the study area were taken from West-Azerbaijan regional water company and analyzed. Results indicated that the LSI has positive values in 87.3% of springs, so there is the Carbonate sedimentation potential. In 11.0% of springs TDS has amounts between 1000-1500 mgL-1 that is hazardous. TDS values in 33.4% have amounts between 500-1000 mgL-1 and in 55.6 % have amounts between 0-500 mgL-1 which are not hazardous. SAR values in 97.7% of springs are in the suitable class. To select a suitable interpolation method to provide the zoning map, various interpolation methods were evaluated using normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) and relative error (RE) statistics and the kriging method with the least errors than other methods, was used to interpolation of quality parameters. Application of spring's water in West-Azerbaijan province for drip irrigation is recommended; however, the risk of emitter clogging especially in the northern parts of the province is high.