Environmental assessment of Karbala water treatment plant using water quality index (WQI)

Abstract

The water treatment plant in Imam Aun city within the Karbala governorate was chosen in this study for the purpose of evaluating the quality of the produced water and using two indicators, the Canadian index and the mathematical index, during the period from 2014 to 2019. Several physiochemical parameters were used in this study such as: turbidity (Turb.), PH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity (Alk.), Calcium (Ca+2), magnesium (Mg+2), sulfate (So24), chlorides (Cl) and total hardness (T.H). The Iraqi drinking water standard specification No. 417 of 2001 was adopted in the evaluation in this study. The results of the computational index were shown that the raw water for all study period was not safe for drinking with the exception of 2018 during the drought period. The weighted mathematical index results for treated water were good for all years of study. The rate of change in water quality after treatment operations was between 57 and 89 percent in the wet season and between (69–92) percent in the dry period, indicating that the plant performs efficiently in handling water. Although the Canadian raw water quality index results were moderate for all years except 2018, when the raw water quality was excellent during the dry season. With the exception of 2014 during the dry and rainy periods, the Canadian water quality index findings for filtered water is fine for consumption.