Statistical Analysis of Groundwater Quality Parameters for Harrana and Azraq Basins, Jordan

Abstract

Groundwater quality parameter (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, , , , B, Fe, Sr, Mn, Al, Ba, SiO2, pH, and BTEX) relationships of 36 wells from the Harrana area and 24 wells from Azraq area are examined to classify the wells water quality. Statistical analyses of the quality parameters have been conducted. Factor analyses are applied to extract five factors from the water quality parameters of Area 1; factor 1 accounts for more than 38% of the variance among water quality. Cations including B, Na+, Mg2+, and K+ with anions including Cl− and were loaded significantly. It represents the variation in the geological formations penetrated by the wells. For Azraq wells, five factors were extracted. Factor 1 accounts for more than 50% of the variance in water quality. Six of water quality parameters were loaded on factor 1. These parameters included cations represented by B, Na+, and Mg2+ in addition to Cl− and as anions. Cluster analysis classified the Harrana wells into three groups, i.e., cluster I included 26 wells with minimum mean concentrations of cations and anions, while cluster III included the wells with the highest concentrations in the water quality parameters. Cluster II included eight wells with intermediate concentrations between clusters I and II. The wells in the Azraq area are clustered into three groups, i.e., cluster I included seven wells with the lowest water quality, while cluster II includes 12 wells and shows the lowest concentrations of ions. Cluster III includes five wells with intermediate concentrations of ions.