Water Quality: Groundwater Quality of Different Wells in Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia

 

1. Summary of the Research:

The research aims to evaluate and compare the treated and untreated groundwater quality in Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia; mainly for drinking purposes using the water quality index (WQI) and, to study the suitability of untreated groundwater for irrigation. The drinking water quality is evaluated for a comparison between municipal tap water, private treated water, and commercially available bottled water. The untreated groundwater from the different wells to be evaluated for irrigation purposes. A comparison of the evaluated results will be prepared using a water quality index based on local and international standards.

 

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"Water" term is more important and one of the needs of the human being to survive in this global village. Most of this global village is covered by water, which is 2/3rd of the total area. The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia has very low annual precipitation (about 63 mm) and groundwater resources from local aquifers are the main water supply source for about 90% of the total demands in the province. Since the demand for water increasing with population but the water resources are limited, requires proper water resource management and assessment, especially when the water is to be used for drinking purpose1. Poor drinking water quality leads to widespread acute and chronic illness and, in many countries, is a major cause of death (US Environmental Protection Agency 2007) 2.

 

In this study, the quality of water will be evaluated using the various Physico-chemical parameters such as pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Cl, SO4, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Total Hardness (TH), and other compositions. Physico-Chemical analysis of water samples will be carried out from different treated and untreated stations of the study area, for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The collected samples will be evaluated and assessed by following experimental results and the water quality index method based on standard methods.

 

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The traditional and convenient approaches for assessing water quality are based on the comparison of experimentally determined parameters with local or international standards. These approaches allow the proper identification of contamination sources, and essential for checking legal compliance3. Most groundwater resources have natural variations that are seasonal or related to recharge events. Drinking water should be aesthetically pleasant, clear, colorless, and well aerated with no unpalatable taste and odor. Microbiological, physical, chemical, and radiological characteristics are also used to determine its suitability in terms of public health4. Bottled waters are perceived by many to taste better, have fewer impurities, and confer higher social status on the consumer than does tap water5. The water quality in three main sources of drinking water (tap water, private treated water, and bottled water) was evaluated by Alabdula'aly 6. They found the bottled water quality affected by the source, treatment type, container type, and length of storage. Anwar et. al. successfully used the water quality index as a monitoring tool for groundwater quality both for drinking and irrigation purposes.

 

The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the groundwater quality used for drinking purposes, also evaluate the groundwater resources for irrigation purposes, and classify the hydrochemical characterization of groundwater resources in Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia.

 

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The step by step objectives will be as follows:

i. Collecting samples of water at regular intervals from different treated and untreated groundwater resources of different wells for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.

ii. Analyzing the samples quantitatively to compute the cations, anions, and other chemical compositions.

iii. Ranking the groundwater quality through mathematical formulations using different standard methods, for example, Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index Method (WAWQI) and Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment Water Quality Index (CCMEWQI) method.

iv. Plotting the characteristics of the groundwater quality as per the locations, treatment stations for comparisons.

v. Assessing the results and published online to screen the groundwater quality for planned, sustainable and quality water management referring to public health and safety for drinking and irrigation purposes.

 

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In groundwater, the chemical composition must be varied from place to place and need a complete analytical method. The treated and untreated water samples will be collected from wells, municipal treatment plants, and commercially treated plants for the different physicochemical parameters. pH will be measured immediately after collecting the sample or on location. For metal analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy will be used. Samples will be analyzed in duplicate following Standard Methods (1992). Ca, Mg, Na, K, F, Cl, NO3, and SO4 will be analyzed by Dionex300 Ion chromatography, equipped with Dionex Ion Pac CS12 analytical column with CG12 guard column for cations and Ion Pac AS 4A analytical column with AG 4A guard column for anions. Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Se, V, and Zn will be analyzed using PerkinElmer model 1000 Inductivity Coupled Plasma (ICP) spectrophotometer equipped with the ultrasonic nebulizer. For trace elements, the analyses were carried out in triplicate and the average will be taken into account. The water quality index will be calculated by the following methods.

 

Arithmetic weighted method

The weighted arithmetic index method will be used to calculate the treated water quality index. The most suitable parameters for drinking water will be used and compared with the allowable values for drinking water quality as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Canadian water quality index (CWQI )

The CWQI adopted the conceptual model of the British Colombia Water Quality Index (BCWQI), which is based on relative sub- indices. There are three factors in the indicator, each of which is scaled between 0 and 100. The values of the three measures of variation from chosen objectives for water quality are collected to construct a vector in an imaginary "objective exceedance" space. The length of the vector is then scaled to an array of between 0 and 100, and subtracted from 100 to create an index which is 0 or close to 0 for extremely poor water quality, and close to 100 for excellent water quality.

 

Through the water quality measured from different groundwater resources, a distinction and quality rank could be made among the groundwater resources which would facilitate to take of necessary steps for sustainable water utilization both for drinking and irrigation purposes. Studying treated and untreated groundwater in Hafr Al Batin and surrounding areas will reveal the opportunities of selective applications on groundwater resources considering the quality of the water.

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The research will provide a significant and valuable contribution in supplying water for drinking and irrigation purposes. The concerned authority in groundwater management will have extensive data on groundwater quality and therefore will be able to make distinctions in treating different groundwater resources with appropriate decontamination procedures. Selective decontamination processes will therefore ensure correct measures in supplying healthy, contamination-free drinking water to maintain public health and safety. Even though data will be collected from Hafr Al Batin and other surrounding areas of Eastern province, the outcomes of this project could be further extended as a guideline in other regions of Saudi Arabia to extensively assess the quality of all the groundwater resources throughout the Kingdom. This will contribute to maintaining the health and safety of the entire population through the consumption of drinking water and irrigation purpose.

 

List of References:

            (1)        Niemczynowicz, J. Urban Water 1999, 1, 1.

          (2)        Al-Omran, A. M.; El-Maghraby, S. E.; Aly, A. A.; Al-Wabel, M. I.; Al-Asmari, Z. A.; Nadeem, M. E. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2013, 185, 6397.

            (3)        Debels, P.; Figueroa, R.; Urrutia, R.; Barra, R.; Niell, X. Environ Monit Assess 2005, 110, 301.

            (4)        Risala, A. M. Engineering and Technology Journal مجلة الهندسة والتكنولوجيا 2013, 31, 1543.

            (5)        Geldreich, E. E.; Nash, H. D.; Reasoner, D. J.; Taylor, R. H. Journal AWWA 1975, 67, 117.

            (6)        Alabdula'aly, A. I.; Khan, M. A. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 1999, 54, 173.