Groundwater is an irreplaceable resource for irrigation and drinking in the North China Plain, and the quality of groundwater is of great importance to human health and social development. In this study, using the information from 59 groups of groundwater samples, groundwater quality conditions for irrigation and drinking purposes in an agricultural region of the North China Plain were analyzed. The groundwater belongs to a Quaternary loose rock pore water aquifer. The depths of shallow groundwater wells are 20–150 m below the surface, while the depths of deep groundwater wells are 150–650 m. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium percentage (%Na), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), magnesium hazard (MH), permotic index (PI) and electrical conductivity (EC) were selected as indexes to evaluate the shallow groundwater suitability for irrigation. What’s more, the deep groundwater suitability for drinking was assessed and the human health risk of excessive chemicals in groundwater was studied. Results revealed that SAR, Na% and RSC indexes indicated the applicability of shallow groundwater for agricultural irrigation in the study area. We found 57.1% of the shallow groundwater samples were located in high salinity with a low sodium hazard zone. The concentrations of fluorine (F−) in 79.0% of the deep groundwater samples and iodine (I−) in 21.1% of the deep groundwater samples exceeded the permissible limits, respectively. The total hazard quotient (HQ) values of fluorine in over half of the deep groundwater samples exceeded the safety limits, and the health risk degree was ranked from high to low as children, adult females and adult males. In addition to natural factors, the soil layer compression caused by groundwater over-exploitation increased the fluorine concentration in groundwater. Effective measures are needed to reduce the fluorine content of the groundwater of the study area.
Evaluation of Groundwater Suitability for Irrigation and Drinking Purposes in an Agricultural Region of the North China Plain
