WATER QUALITY IN AN ARID WEATHER AREA, CASE: GROUND WATER OF TERMINAL COMPLEX AND CONTINENTAL INTERCALARY. ALGERIAN SOUTHEAST

Abstract

Touggourt area is located in the South East part of Algeria, it contains large amounts of water, and they are extracted from the fossil water (the Terminal Complex and the Continental Intercalary).

The water mineralization of the terminal Complex ground water is between 3 and 6.5 g/l and that of the Continental Intercalary are 1.8 and 8.7 g / l, so it is an obstacle on its use.

To highlight the origins of this mineralization, we used the hydrochemical tool. And chemical analysis in our possession, were processed using the software "Statistica", which allowed us to perform a principal component analysis (PCA), the latter showed a competition between chlorinated water sodic or Mg and calcium bicarbonate waters, rich in potassium to the CT, while for the CI was a competition between the chlorinated sodium or calcium magnesium-sulfated waters and waters. The performed thermodynamic simulation showed a variation of saturation indices that do not exceed zero, for the waters of both CT and CI complex, indicating a saturation in vis-à-vis water minerals, highlighting the influence of formations in outcrop on the quality of water.

However, we note that these waters are acceptable for irrigation of plants, but should be handled (demineralized) before they are distributed to consumers.