Utilization of Heavy Metal Pollution Indices to Appraise Water Quality of Euphrates River inside Ramadi City, Anbar Province, Iraq

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This article concentrated on appraising the water quality of the Euphrates River in the city of Ramadi, Anbar Province western Iraq from the Ramadi Dam to the AL-Khalidiyah Bridge. Seven heavy metals: (Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn, Cr, Cd, and Pb) and ten positions were selected to assess the presence and concentration of these heavy metals in this part of the river. These heavy metals can be a risk and cause cancers due to they do not decompose and can accumulate in body organisms. The samples were analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Three indicators were utilized to appraise water quality: the Heavy Metal Evaluation Index, Contamination Degree, and Heavy Metal Pollution Index. The average concentrations of Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn, Cr, Cd, and Pb in the river water samples were found to be 15.87, 53.16, 152.1, 55.5, 10.41, 0.37, and 0.36 μg/L, respectively. The findings discovered that the concentrations of heavy metals in the samples are below the acceptable limits based on the World Health Organization (WHO). The average values of the indicators (HMPI, HMEI, and CD) were 49.106, 1.716, and -5.282 respectively, which are all below the acceptable limits established set by the World Health Organization. Based on these findings, the water quality of the Euphrates River in the study region is categorized as low pollution. Statistical analysis of heavy metals represented by Pearson correlation displays that the sources of the low pollution levels in the study region consequence of various human activities. The river water cannot be pumped directly to the city without treatment stages because the low contamination rate may have a bad influence on the population.