Research Article:

Ammar Salman Dawooda, Ahmed Naseh Ahmed Hamdan
Department of Civil Engineering,College of Engineering, University of Basrah.

Email address:  ammars.dawood@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

In order to evaluate the quality of groundwater for drinking
suitability purposes, a total of 27 groundwater samples from wells in
southwest of Basrah city have been analyzed for various geochemical
parameters. The aim of this research was to find the physicochemical
quality of ground water in the southwest of Basrah. The results show that
the quality of groundwater regarding the physical and chemical parameters
of southern Basrah is unsuitable for drinking purposes. The total hardness
(TH) was very high and it was in the ranged (740-6950) mg/l, also the
electrical conductivity (EC) was very high and ranged (1720- 18030)
μS/cm, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a value
less than 100 mg/l for (TH) and 750µs/cm for (EC). According to the
international and national standards the allowable concentration of total
dissolved solids (TDS) should not exceed 500 mg/l, while the groundwater
samples of the study area shows a range of (1200-10790) mg/l, therefore
it is considered very high. Moreover, the other physicochemical properties
of groundwater were analyzed and compared with those of drinking water
standards recommended by the WHO. Groundwater for irrigation has been
studied by using the rating of water samples in relation to salinity and
sodium hazard graph. As a result of the study, only one sample was
accepted for irrigation.

Keywords: Groundwater, Aquifer, Water Quality Index, Basrah Wells

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