Evaluation of Water Quality of Cisterns

Abstract

Collection and storage of rainwater for various purposes, such as drinking, is common in many hot‐arid cities and countries. The physiochemical quality of the water of cisterns was investigated. This assessment will provide effective ways to improve the quality of the cisterns’ water. In this study, ten villages within the countryside surrounding Lar city were selected and water samples gathered from them are analyzed in regards to physical and chemical parameters. Lar city is a hot‐arid region in the Fars province of Iran. Several villages in the surrounding areas of Lar, just like many cities in other provinces, still use cisterns as their main source of fresh water. The primary way in which water gets into these cisterns is rainfall. The results showed that some parameters (i.e., pH, Temperature, Alkalinity, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Turbidity) in the water of all cisterns were at appropriate levels when compared with national drinking water standards. However, other parameters, such as Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Hardness (TH), Chloride, Sulfate, and Fluoride were not at the desired levels. Generally, the amount of some measured parameters, including Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Magnesium hardness was above that found in the normal standard samples. Regarding the geographical location of Lar and the shortage of annual rainfall, the physical and chemical quality of some cisterns sometimes is not suitable. However, provisions can be made to improve the physical and chemical quality of water in the cisterns, leading to a relief of the water shortage problem to some extent and providing higher quality water.