Hydrochemical study of water wells in Bonab and Malekan cities with the aim of evaluating groundwater quality, An environmental geology approach

Bonab and Malkan area is located in northwest of Iran and in southwest of East Azarbaijan province. 12 water samples have been collected from water wells of Bonab and Malekan in order to investigate the hydrochemistry of groundwater. Statistical quality data of selected wells include pH, EC, TDS and eight other parameters have entered into Chemistry, AQQA and SPSS software for processing and interpretation which were evaluated to determine the quality of samples for drinking, agricultural and industrial use. Scholer diagram has used to assess water quality in drinking water. For determination of water quality for irrigation and industry purposes, Wilcox diagram and Lange index are used, respectively. According to the Schuler diagram, the water samples of the area indicate a range between good and acceptable waters, indicating the favorable water quality of the area for drinking purposes. Also, according to the Wilcox diagram, the samples in the area indicate two categories include good and average. Among the selected samples, W12 was of good quality and the others were of medium quality. Furthermore, collected samples from W8, W9, W10 and W12 wells could be used for industrial purposes, however, the sample of W6 was scaly. Samples taken from the area are mainly classified as very hard in the total hardness (TH) category which causes consumer dissatisfaction. The Samples of Bonab area were all corrosive due to the low thickness of the Bonab aquifer compared to Malekan aquifer. Thus, the corrosive properties of the Bonab samples cause water pert and health problems.