Hydrogeochemistry of Gorganrood river in Gonbad-e-Kavoos district, Golestan province

Rivers are the key resources for drinking and agricultural purposes and the assessment of water quality is very important. In this study, a detailed investigation has been made for identifying the natural and anthropogenic processes that offected the quality of Gorganrood and its tributaries water in the Gonbad-e-Kavoos district. The Gorganrood is the longest river in the Golestan province (NE of Iran).  During previous years, various wastewaters (i.e. domestic, agricultural and industrial) produced in Gonbad-e-Kavoos district have been discharged into the Gorganrood. To evaluate the chemical quality of water in the study area, 37 water and 6 wastewater samples were collected. The physicochemical parameters including pH and EC were determined in situ by an EC/pH meters. The concentration of major ions was measured using the standard methods. The piper and Wilcox diagrams were used to assess the water type and water quality for irrigation, respectively. Scatter diagrams were used to assess the hydrochemical processes influencing the chemistry of the water samples. Results of this study indicate that the pH and EC values of the water samples decrease in the city district. This is due to the discharge of urban wastewaters with lower EC and pH values which leads to the dilution of the river water. The lower concentration of nitrate in water samples collected in the city district is probably due to the denitrification process. Results show that the prevailing water types of Gorganrood and its tributaries are Na-SO42- and Na-HCO3-, respectively. The entrance of tributaries enhances the Gorganrood water quality for drinking and agricultural puposes. Along the river course, the natural processes of halite- gypsum- anhydrite dissolution and ion exchange, as well as anthropogenic factors (discharge of agricultural and urban wastewaters) deteriorate the water quality.