Abstract
ABSTRACTSitting on porous and highly permeable volcanic tuffs, the main cemetery of Tabriz (Vadi-e Rahmat) poses a high potential risk to groundwater quality. To investigate the potential pollution, groundwater was sampled in the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012 around the cemetery and analyzed for major physicochemical and microbial parameters by standard methods. The results indicated relatively high concentrations of calcium, magnesium, sulfate, nitrate, and fluoride ions and microbial colonies in the aquifer samples; nitrate:sodium and chloride:sodium ratios as well as good correlation between nitrate and fluoride concentrations confirmed the source of contamination to be the cemetery. These releases from the cemetery have also contaminated local qanats, traditional Iranian horizontal channels that are used for irrigation and drinking water. The main factors that increase the risk of groundwater pollution from the cemetery are the relatively shallow groundwater table, the relatively high permeability of the aquifer, and the high rate of burials.
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