Classification of Water Quality of Banat Watercourses in Serbia for the Needs of Irrigation

Abstract

Abstract The composition of water used for irrigation has a significant impact on the production characteristics of the land, yield and irrigation equipment, and therefore its analysis, or assessment of the usability of irrigation water is very important. In this paper, the potential impact of the waters of the Banat watercourses of Moravica, Karaš and Nera is assessed on the basis of monthly water samples from the measuring stations of Vatin, Dobričevo and Kusić, for the period of April-September from the year 2007 to 2017. The assessment was carried out using the classification of irrigation water: FAO, USLL and water categorization according to Nejgebauer, and the Serbian Water Quality Index (SWQI). For the needs of these classifications, a total of 20 water parameters were analyzed: quality, physical, chemical and biological parameters. According to all the classifications, the analyzed watercourses can be a good source of water for irrigation in terms of its quality, but with control and appropriate measures, in particular, the presence of bicarbonate, but also the ratio of Na+ to Ca2+ and Mg2+.