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CONTENTS

Water quality for agriculture

by
R.S. Ayers
Soil and Water Specialist (Emeritus)
University of California
Davis, California, USA

and
D.W. Westcot
Senior Land and Water Resources Specialist
California Regional Water Quality Control Board
Sacramento, California, USA

FAO IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE PAPER

29 Rev. 1

Reprinted 1989, 1994

The designations employed and the

presentation of material in this
publication do not imply the expression
of any opinion whatsoever on the part of
the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations concerning the
legal status of any country, territory, city
or area or of its authorities, or
concerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries.

M-56
ISBN 92-5-102263-1

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the
copyright owner. Applications for such
permission, with a statement of the purpose and
extent of the reproduction, should be addressed
to the Director, Publications Division, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome,
Italy.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 1985 © FAO

PREFACE
Water Quality for Agriculture was first published in 1976 as Irrigation and Drainage Paper
29. Although many of the basic concepts of salinity control and dealing with poor quality
water remain the same, new data and experience have prompted us to revise the 1976
paper in order to keep the user up-to-date.

The document is now presented as a field guide for evaluating the suitability of a water for
irrigation. Included are suggestions for obtaining maximum utilization of an existing or
potential water supply. Guideline values given identify a potential problem water based on
possible restrictions in use related to 1) salinity, 2) rate of water infiltration into the soil, 3) a
specific ion toxicity, or 4) to some other miscellaneous effects. Discussions and examples
are given along with possible management alternatives to deal with these potential
problems.

This paper is intended to provide guidance to farm and project managers, consultants and
engineers in evaluating and identifying potential problems related to water quality. It
discusses possible restrictions on the use of the water and presents management options
which may assist in farm or project management, planning and operation. The guidelines
and discussions are based on reported experiences gained from many farm areas
throughout the world, mostly in arid and semi-arid areas. A vast majority of the data has
come from agriculture in the Western United States, therefore, caution and a critical attitude
should be taken when applying the guidelines to specific local conditions. The guidelines
can indicate potential problems and possible restrictions on use of the water but the true
suitability of a given water depends on the specific conditions of use and on the
management capability of the user. The guidelines should be useful in placing water quality
effects in perspective with the other factors affecting crop production, the ultimate goal
being to obtain maximum production per unit of available water.

Salinity is discussed from the standpoint of a reduction in soil-water availability to the crop.
Recent research findings on plant response to salinity within the root zone have been
incorporated into the guidelines to improve their predictive capability. Updated crop
tolerance values have also become available and are included. A method is presented for
calculating the leaching requirement for the crop considering the quality of water available.
Values calculated by this procedure, if adopted, represent an appreciable water saving as
compared to most older procedures.

A water infiltration problem related to water quality is usually associated with both the
salinity and sodium content of the water. A procedure is presented to evaluate the potential

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of a water to cause an infiltration problem based on a combination of its salinity (ECw) and
sodium adsorption ratio (SAR).

A specific ion toxicity is discussed as to the concentration of boron, sodium or chloride and
their effect on yield of sensitive crops. Other less frequently encountered problems are
discussed as miscellaneous problems. Tables showing recommended maximum
concentrations of trace elements for irrigation water and for toxic substances in drinking
water for livestock are also presented.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These guidelines are based on various preceding guidelines developed and used in
irrigated agriculture in the Western United States. The format follows that used by the staff
of the University of California, USA. Many of the basic data and the concepts of saline water
use and management have been developed or proposed by the US Salinity Laboratory and
the authors would like to express their grateful appreciation for this help, particularly to Drs.
G.J. Hoffman, E.V. Maas, J.D. Rhoades, D.L. Suarez, and the Laboratory Director, J. van
Schilfgaarde.

Drs. R.L. Branson and J.D. Oster (University of California), Dr. J. Van Hoorn (Wageningen),
Mr. J.D. Doorenbos (Ministry of Agriculture, The Netherlands), and staff of the Land and
Water Development Division (FAO) have been particularly helpful with suggestions and
draft reviews. Thanks are also due to: Chrissi Smith-Redfern, Hazel Tonkin, Charlene Arora
and Mary Westcot.

The paper is dedicated to the field person who must make decisions on the effective use of
irrigation water. This paper attempts to take the solution and prevention of water quality
problems to the field. The ultimate goal is that of maximum food production from the
available supply of water.

NOTE:

In running text where symbols are used, e.g. ECdw, for mechanical reasons they have been
typed level on the line. However, they appear correctly in the equations where greater
flexibility is possible e.g. ECdw.

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or

responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or
guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO
sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. WATER QUALITY EVALUATION

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Water Quality Problems

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1.2.1 Salinity

1.2.2 Water infiltration rate

1.2.3 Toxicity

1.2.4 Miscellaneous

1.3 Approach to Evaluating Water Quality

1.4 Water Quality Guidelines

2. SALINITY PROBLEMS

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Build-up of Soil Salinity

2.3 Salinity Effects on Crops

2.4 Management of Salinity Problems

2.4.1 Drainage

2.4.2 Salinity control by leaching

2.4.3 Crop tolerance to salinity

2.4.4 Cultural practices

2.4.5 Changing methods of irrigation

2.4.6 Land development for salinity control

2.4.7 Changing or blending water supplies

3. INFILTRATION PROBLEMS

3.1 The Infiltration Problem

3.1.1 Infiltration problem evaluation

3.2 Management of Infiltration Problems

3.2.1 Soil and water amendments

3.2.2 Blending water supplies

3.2.3 Cultivation and deep tillage

3.2.4 Organic residues

3.2.5 Irrigation management

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4. TOXICITY PROBLEMS

4.1 Specific Ions and Their Effects

4.1.1 Chloride

4.1.2 Sodium

4.1.3 Boron

4.2 Management of Toxicity Problems

4.2.1 Leaching

4.2.2 Crop selection

4.2.3 Cultural practices

4.2.4 Blending water supplies

4.3 Toxicity Effects due to Sprinkler Irrigation

5. MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS

5.1 Excess Nitrogen

5.2 Abnormal pH

5.3 Scale Deposits

5.4 Magnesium Problems

5.5 Trace Elements and Their Toxicity

5.5.1 Natural occurrence in water

5.5.2 Toxicities

5.5.3 Evaluation criteria

5.6 Nutrition and Water Quality

5.6.1 Nutrition and salinity

5.6.2 Water infiltration problems and nutrition

5.6.3 Nutrition and toxicity

5.6.4 Miscellaneous

5.7 Clogging Problems in Localized (Drip) Irrigation Systems

5.8 Corrosion and Encrustation

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5.8.1 Metal corrosion

5.8.2 Concrete corrosion

5.9 Vector Problems Associated with Water Quality

6. WATER QUALITY FOR LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Use of Saline Water for Livestock

6.3 Toxic Substances in Livestock Water

7. IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY AND WASTEWATER RE-USE

8. EXPERIENCES USING WATER OF VARIOUS QUALITIES

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Protection of Irrigation Water Quality - Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, USA

8.3 Re-use of Agricultural Drainage Water - Broadview Water District, USA

8.4 Use of an Exceptionally Low Salinity Water - Friant-Kern Canal, San Joaquin Valley,
California, USA

8.5 High Bicarbonate Water Used for Overhead Sprinkler Irrigation - Denver, Colorado,
USA

8.6 Use of Poor Quality Water - Bahrain

8.7 Drainage Problems - Imperial Valley, California, USA

8.8 Need for Drainage - Tigris-Euphrates River Basin, Iraq

8.9 High Salinity Water - Arizona, USA

8.10 Use of Agricultural Drainage Water for Production of Selected Crops - Imperial Valley
and San Joaquin Valley, California, USA

8.11 Use of Marginal Quality Water - Medjerda Valley, Tunisia

8.12 Use of Poor Quality Water for Irrigation - United Arab Emirates

8.13 Irrigation Water Quality - Lake Chad, Africa

8.14 River Water Quality Variations - Ethiopia and Somalia

8.15 Groundwater Degradation - Wadi Dhuleil, Jordan

8.16 Surface Water Quality Degradation - Yemen Arab Republic

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8.17 Sediment in the Irrigation Water Supply - Ethiopia

8.18 High Fluoride in Animal Drinking Water - New Mexico, USA

8.19 Poor Quality Groundwater for Livestock Drinking Water - New Mexico, USA

8.20 Fresno Irrigation Scheme Using Treated Wastewater - California, USA

8.21 Agricultural Use of Treated Wastewater - Braunschweig, FR Germany

8.22 Wastewater Irrigation - Bakersfield, California, USA

8.23 Wastewater Irrigation - Tuolumne Regional Water District, California, USA

8.24 Irrigation with Wastewater - Santa Rosa, California, USA

8.25 Use of Wastewater High in Boron - Calistoga, California, USA

Annex I Table - Water analysis of 250 selected irrigation supplies from various locations in
the world

Annex II Glossary

REFERENCES

LIST OF TABLES

1. Guidelines for interpretations of water quality for irrigation

2. Laboratory determinations needed to evaluate common irrigation water quality problems

3. Concentration factors (X) for predicting soil salinity (ECe) from irrigation water salinity
(ECw) and the leaching fraction (LF)

4. Crop tolerance and yield potential of selected crops as influenced by irrigation water
salinity (ECw) or soil salinity (ECe)

5. Relative salt tolerance of agricultural crops

6. Guidelines for interpreting laboratory data on water suitability for grapes

7. Relative salt tolerance of various crops at germination

8. Effect of planting rates on seedling establishment of crops sprinkle-irrigated with different

quality water in Israel

9. Relative effect of fertilizer materials on the soil solution

10. Water quality from blended canal and well water

11. Calcium concentration (Cax) expected to remain in near-surface soil-water following

irrigation with water of given HCO3/Ca ratio and ECw

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12. Water and soil amendments and their relative effectiveness in supplying calcium

13. Average composition and equivalent acidity or basicity of fertilizer materials

14. Chloride tolerance of some fruit crop cultivars and rootstocks

15. Relative tolerance of selected crops to exchangeable sodium

16. Relative boron tolerance of agricultural crops

17. Citrus and stone fruit rootstocks listed in order of increasing boron accumulation and
transport to leaves

18. Relative tolerance of selected crops to foliar injury from saline water applied by
sprinklers

19. Leaf burn on alfalfa with three rates of water application by sprinkler irrigation in
Imperial Valley, California

20. Sodium content in cotton leaves in percent oven dry weight

21. Recommended maximum concentrations of trace elements in irrigation water

22. Physical, chemical and biological contributors to clogging or localized (drip) irrigation
systems as related to irrigation water quality

23. Standard water quality tests needed for design and operation of localized (drip) irrigation
systems

24. Influence of water quality on the potential for clogging problems in localized (drip)
irrigation systems

25. Procedure for calculation of pHc

26. Chlorine dosages for control of biological growths

27. Limit values for evaluating the aggressivity of water and soil to concrete

28. Water quality guide for livestock and poultry uses

29. Suggested limits for magnesium in drinking water for livestock

30. Guidelines for levels of toxic substances in livestock drinking water

31. Existing standards governing the use of renovated water in agriculture

32. Treatment processes suggested by the World Health Organization for wastewater re-use

33. Selected crop yield from the Safford Experiment Station as compared to average farm
yields

34. Red Mountain Farms lint cotton yields (kg/ha)

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35. Salinity of the Medjerda River at El Aroussia, Tunisia (monthly mean in dS/m)

36. Effect of irrigation method on tomato yield (kg/ha)

37. Effect of irrigation method on sodium and chloride concentration of the foliage of lemon
trees (dry weight basis)

38. Trace element concentrations of three water supply wells in selected areas of New
Mexico, USA

39. Fluoride in well water in mg/l

40. Salt and trace element content of a cattle water source

41. Water analyses for the Agua Negra Ranch (mg/l)

42. Trace element concentrations in Fresno municipal wastewater

43. Water quality in and around the Braunschweig treated wastewater use area

44. Trace element concentrations in wastewater from the Tuolumne Regional Water District

45. Trace element and nutrient content of wastewater from the City of Santa Rosa

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Nomogram for determining the SAR value of irrigation water and for estimating the
corresponding ESP value of a soil that is at equilibrium with the water

2. Salinity profile expected to develop after long-term use of water of ECw = 1.0 dS/m at
various leaching fractions (LF)

3. Soil moisture retention curves for a clay loam soil at varying degrees of soil salinity (ECe)

4. Change in salinity of soil-water (ECsw) between irrigations of alfalfa due to ET use of

stored water

5. Salinity profile with a high water table

6. Relation between capillary flow velocity and depth of water table

7. Effect of applied water salinity (ECw) upon root zone soil salinity (ECe) at various
leaching fractions

8. Soil salinity (ECe) of a sandy-loam soil before and after 150 mm of rainfall

9. Soil salinity (ECe) profiles at the end of the irrigation season and after winter rainfall in
citrus plantings

10. Divisions for relative salt tolerance ratings of agricultural crops

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11. Method of determining maximum ECe

12. Flat top beds and irrigation practice

13. Salinity control with sloping beds

14. Sloping seedbeds

15. Sloping seedbeds used for salinity and temperature control

16. Bed shapes and salinity effects

17. Salt accumulation patterns for a) surface flooding, b) furrow irrigation, c) border
irrigation, and d) localized irrigation

18. Influence of the irrigation system on the soil salinity pattern and yield of bell pepper at
two levels of irrigation water quality

19. Depth of leaching water per unit depth of soil required to reclaim a saline soil by
continuous ponding

20. Depth of leaching water per unit depth of soil required to reclaim a saline soil by
ponding water intermittently

21. Relative rate of water infiltration as affected by salinity and sodium adsorption ratio

22. Depth of leaching water per unit depth of soil required to reclaim a soil inherently high
in boron

23. Heavy metal content of the soil profile after 80 years of irrigation with wastewater

24. Concentration factor from applied water (ECw) to soil salinity (ECe) under subirrigation
on organic peatland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

25. Electrical conductivity of Lake Chad from 26 February to 10 April 1967

LIST OF EXAMPLES

1. Calculation of concentration of deep percolation from the bottom of the root zone

2. Determination of average root zone salinity

3. Leaching requirement calculation

4. Determination of yield potential

5. Blending irrigation water for maize

6. Comparison of methods to calculate the sodium hazard of a water

7. Use of gypsum as an amendment

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8. Blending irrigation water to reduce the SAR of a poor quality supply

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