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Application of the analytic hierarchy process to weight the criteria used to determine the Water Quality Index of groundwater in the northeastern basin of the Sidi Bouzid region, Central Tunisia

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Abstract

The Sidi Bouzid and El Hjal Wadi basins together comprise one of the most important agricultural regions in Central Tunisia. Exploitation of the groundwater in this region is increasing exponentially. In this work, hydrochemical characteristics and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were used to assess the suitability of the groundwater in the aquifer for use in irrigation. Concentrations of total dissolved solids in the groundwater ranged from 1500 to 5000 mg/L. The most abundant chemical species in the water were SO42− and Cl−, with mean concentrations of 1010 mg/L and 641 mg/L, respectively. The high levels of these species can be explained by sulfate mineral dissolution and the leaching of evaporitic formations into the groundwater flow. Quality criteria weighting using the AHP was employed to generate a map of groundwater suitability for irrigation. This method categorized water samples as either excellent, good, or permissible for irrigation based on the Water Quality Index (WQI). Most of the water samples (76.5%) in the study area were found to contain water that would be good for irrigation, although the groundwater quality deteriorated towards the areas with low elevation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the scientific committee of the International Symposium of Water Resources and Environmental Impact Assessment in North Africa, WREIANA2019 (25–27 March, Tunisia) for the selection of this paper. The authors gratefully acknowledge reviewers for their valuable comments that led to the improvement of the manuscript. The authors would also like to extend their gratitude to the members of the International Association of Water Resources in the Southern Mediterranean Basin—Gafsa (Tunisia) for their guidance. They are thankful for the members of the Laboratory of Physicochemical Analyses of Soil and Water of CRDA (Sidi Bouzid) for their help during the water analysis process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unity of Geo-Systems, Geo-Resources and Geo-Environments (3G), Faculty of Sciences of Gabes, University of Gabes, Zrig, 6072, Gabès, Tunisia

    Kaouther Ncibi & Faten Khelifi

  2. Department of Water Sciences, University of Gabes, Higher Institute of the Sciences and Techniques of Waters of Gabes (ISSTEG), Gabès, Tunisia

    Kaouther Ncibi

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Sétif 1, Institute of Architecture and Earth Sciences (IAST), 19000, Sétif, Algeria

    Rihab Hadji & Karim Zighmi

  4. Research Laboratory GEOMODEL, University of Sfax, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Rue sokra km 4 cité Habib Bourguiba, 3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Mongi Hamdi

  5. Centre for Water Sciences and Management, North-West University, 11 Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom, 2531, South Africa

    Naziha Mokadem

  6. Department of Water and Environment Engineering, University of Mascara, Cheikh El Khaldi Street, 29000, Mascara, Algeria

    Malika Abbes

  7. Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Jarzouna, 7021, Bizerte, Tunisia

    Faten Khelifi

  8. International Association of Water Resources in the Southern Mediterranean Basin, Gafsa, Tunisia

    Kaouther Ncibi, Rihab Hadji, Naziha Mokadem, Faten Khelifi & Younes Hamed

  9. Laboratory for the Application of Materials to the Environment, Water and Energy (LAMEEE), University of Gafsa, Faculty of Sciences of Gafsa, City Campus Sidi Ahmed Zarroug, 2112, Gafsa, Tunisia

    Younes Hamed

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  1. Kaouther Ncibi
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Ncibi, K., Hadji, R., Hamdi, M. et al. Application of the analytic hierarchy process to weight the criteria used to determine the Water Quality Index of groundwater in the northeastern basin of the Sidi Bouzid region, Central Tunisia. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 5, 19 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-020-00159-x

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