Abstract
This study evaluates the water quality for the Canal of Shatt Al-Basrah, located in Basrah province, Iraq. The Shatt Al-Basrah Canal used to connect the waterway from Al-Hammar marshes in the north of Basrah province, to Khor Al-Zubair port in the south of the province. Nine physicochemical water quality parameters have been measured and analyzed for calculating the water pollution index (WPI) in the Canal. These parameters, which were used in developing the WPI, included: Potential of Hydrogen (pH), Nitrate (NO3-), Calcium (Ca2+), Total Alkalinity (TA.), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Sodium (Na+), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Sulfate (SO42-), Phosphate (PO43-), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Hardness (TH), Chloride (Cl-), Magnesium (Mg2+), and Potassium (K+). The aim of this paper is to analyze and assess the water pollution of the Shatt Al-Basrah Canal in the year 2014, making use of the WPI method. The annual WPI mean value during the study period was more than the safe value; therefore, the water quality of the Canal ranged from impure (type V) to the heavily impure (type VI) and hence definitely regarded as unsuitable for drinking uses. Consequently, there is a need that is immediate to take some measures to stop the pollution and enhance the water quality of the Canalas a component that is integral tothe environment in Basrah province. In Basrahprovince, the disposal of wastewater in the Shatt Al-Basrah Canal is big maintenance difficulty of the Canal water quality.
Highlights
The quality of surface water decided by some natural processes, such as precipitation, soil erosion, and atmospheric conditions
From the results of the analysis for the physicochemical parameters (Table 1), Potential of Hydrogen (pH) was noticed to differ among months and locations with a range from 7.8 to 8.5, the lowest value was recorded in July and the highest in February, it is noticed that pH values within the guidelines (6.5 – 8.5), the pH of the study location shows that the water was slightly alkaline, and similar results were found as reported by Dawood et al (2018b)
The highest Dissolved Oxygen (DO) content value of 9.84 mg/L was recorded in February at ST1 and the lowest of 2.26 mg/L recorded in August at ST1
Summary
The quality of surface water decided by some natural processes, such as precipitation, soil erosion, and atmospheric conditions. The management of water resource is an issue that is universal, especially affects populations surviving in areas where extreme agricultural and industrial activities occurred, as this could impact the quality and quantity of surface water/groundwater. Following the event of severe drought experienced in the last years, it was decided to assess waters of the Canal of Shatt AlBasrah as an alternative source of water supply for the city of Basrah. An attention that is special must be provided with to the assessment of the Shatt Al-Basrah water quality and contamination problems, as their intended purpose that the Canal is one of the most effective artificial water resources in Basrah. As an important to know the water resources quality, this paper aims to determine and assess the pollution in the Shatt Al-Basrah Canal by calculating a water pollution index (WPI) based on different physicochemical parameters of water quality.
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