Assessment of Nitrate Pollution of Groundwater in South -East of Isfahan Region

Because the increasing population and food in the world, as well as unavailability and limitation of agricultural lands, needs to increase the agricultural yield quality and quantity. One way to have high quality products is applying fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizer is the most common one used for this purpose. Impractical and weak management in controlling the improper use of fertilizer causes high concentration of Nitrate in soil and groundwater resources. High concentration of Nitrate in water causes many health problems. This research is conducted to determine the rate of Nitrate polluted water in South–East of Isfahan. In this research, sampling was done from selected water wells and the amount of Nitrate in water was determined by using special Electrodes and Ion -Selective method. Surfer Software identified the variation process. Then, the results were compared with US-Environmental Protected Agency (US-EPA). In some areas, the results show the concentration of Nitrate more than US-EPA standards, especially in South–East of the region. The highest Nitrate concentrations in the first and second sampling in the polluted area were 189.1 and 248.3 mg per liters, respectively. In the first sampling 80.0% and in the second sampling 90.0% of wells were identified to have high concentration of Nitrate. The Nitrate pollution averages in the first and second sampling were 76.9 ppm and 93.1 ppm, respectively. Therefore, in order to apply this kind of fertilizer, proper management, scientific and practical control must be employed so that increasing concentration of Nitrate can be controlled.