Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT OF DRINKING WATER IN ANAR CITY, IRAN

M.H. Sayadi, A.R. Sayadi and A. Movafagh

Abstract

The Anar plain is one of the fastest growing agricultural regions in the center of Iran located between Kerman and Yazd Provinces. The astonishing increase in the utilization of ground water for irrigation and population have enormously amplified the pressure on the already limited ground water sources besides causing pollution of ground water , so the quantity and physico-chemical contamination of water in Anar plain has become a matter of concern to the government and non-government organizations in Iran. This study was conducted to evaluate the drinking water quality in Anar city that is supply from ground water. The water samples were collected from tap water in four seasons, i.e. spring, summer, autumn and winter for three years from 2008 to 2010. The results showing all water samples have total dissolved solid and sodium higher than acceptable level for drinking water. In the autumn 2009 and 2010, magnesium exceeded from acceptable level too. Other polluted parameters followed by the increasing trend therefore in the near future most of the polluted parameters would be cited beyond the acceptable level. Assessment of the temporal variation show increasing almost all contaminated parameters during the study from 2008 to 2010. The results showed that the sodium absorption ratio values varied from 54.78 to 63.44 in the spring 2010 and summer 2008 respectively. The study clearly indicates that the examined water having poor quality of drinking water hence show appreciable pollution, designating the water unsuitable for the drinking purpose.