Groundwater Quality and Land Use Change

More than 98 percent of the earth’s drinking water supply comes from groundwater. It needs protection from possible contamination, especially in urban areas where wastewater production is high. Most area of Shahrekord plain is under the cultivation and irrigation water comes from the groundwater. Furthermore, urban sewage discharges to the groundwater, in some parts of the Shahrekord plain. In this study, 18 wells were selected for water sampling. The effects of landuse were evaluated on Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Nitrate (NO3–), Nitrite (NO2–) and Sulfate (SO42-). The samples were selected in different seasons; spring, summer and autumn 2004. A Nested Complete Randomized Design (NCRD) was used for statistical analysis with 18 samples per plot. The results show that there were significant differences (P<0.05) between value of NO3–, NH4+ concentration and EC in farmlands and urban areas. There was no observed any significant difference on the NO2–, pH and TH value. It was higher in farmlands than in urban areas. The result shows that there are a significant difference (P<0.01) on NO3– concentration in different seasons.