Seasonal Variations of some Physico-chemical Properties of Drinking Water in Akre District, Kurdistan Region – Iraq

Abstract

Drinking water considers one of the main concerns in most developing countries. The current study aimed to evaluate the quality of drinking water in Akre district, Kurdistan Region – Iraq in four different seasons, and to compare them with WHO standards. Drinking water samples were collected from seven densely populated quarters of the city. The samples were analyzed for their physico-chemical and heavy metal quality. Physico-chemical parameters were temperature, turbidity, Electrical conductivity “EC”, pH, Total Dissolved Solids “TDS”, Chlorine “Cl- ”, Sulphate “SO4-2”, Nitrate “NO3”, Sodium “Na+”, Zinc “Zn”, Copper “Cu”, total alkalinity, total hardness, Cadmium “Cd” and Plumbum “Pb”. These are indications of polluted water and weak treatment practice, which in turn will cause many human health problems. The results from this study showed that almost all the water samples were normal in compare to the WHO guidelines, except for the total alkalinity, total hardness, Cd and Pb, were showed to be higher than WHO standards in some locations. Therefore, the study recommends the city authorities to improve their drinking water treatment or use alternative water supply to have a better drinking water.