Browsing by Author "Deraniyagala, P.E.P.S."

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    Mapping of Water and Soil Quality Parameters in the Gampaha-Ihalagama East and Eldeniya East Grama Niladhari Divisions, Sri Lanka
    (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, 2024) Deraniyagala, P.E.P.S.; Heenkenda, H.M.D.S.D.; De Silva, R.C.L.
    Water and soil are important natural resources, and the study of their distribution is of great interest. The Grama Niladhari Divisions, Ihalagama-East and Eldeniya-East, located in the Gampaha district, are selected as the study areas, and this is done as a pilot study. Different water and soil quality parameters are investigated followed by the construction of contour maps. As water quality parameters, pH, conductivity, phosphate content, nitrate content, and Ca2+ hardness were determined, and as soil quality parameters, pH, nitrate, organic matter, water-soluble Na+ and K+, extractable Na+ and K+, and water-soluble Ca2+ ion contents were determined. The pH of water samples lies within the range of 4.41 − 7.11 and 3.79 – 7.18 in the Ihalagama-East and Eldeniya East divisions, respectively. Almost all the samples have acidic pH values, with some falling below the lower limit of the WHO guidelines for safe drinking water (6.5 − 8.5). Conductivity values vary from 52.0 − 277.0 μS/cm and between 54.0 – 403.0 μS/cm, respectively, which is below the WHO permissible level of 1500 μS/cm. The phosphate content varies from 1.374 − 3.986 mg/L in Ihalagama-East and water-soluble phosphate was not detected in Eldeniya−East, indicating a very low range and suggesting that the water samples are less contaminated with phosphate-containing substances. Considerably high values in the range of 1.24 − 279.00 mg/L for Ihalagama-east and 59.5 mg/L − 168.0 mg/L for Eldeniya−East, are obtained for the nitrate content where most of them are beyond the safe level of drinking water, 50 mg/L. The soil pH in all the samples falls within the acidic range, varying from 2.99 − 6.73 in Ihalagama-East and 3.07 – 6.68 in Eldeniya-East. Most of the soil samples contain high nitrate contents, indicating significant contamination. The percentage soil organic matter content varies between 0.60% and 13.27% in both areas. Many fertile agricultural soils typically have an organic matter content ranging from 3% − 6% revealing that most of the samples are beyond the standard levels. The distribution of water-soluble and extractable cations does not exhibit a wide range. According to the findings, though two Grama Niladhari Divisions are selected, they also display a huge variation. This reveals the importance of mapping to address contaminations, effects of natural disasters which lead to changes in the studied water and soil quality parameters.