European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PHYSICO CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF UNDERGROUND WATER QUALITY IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF TRIPOLI CITY

Anisa Elhamili*, Amani Abokhshim and Fathi Sadek

ABSTRACT

Underground water is an important source of water supply and the dependency of people on such water has increased lately. Thus, regular monitoring of the underground water quality is essential. The present study was performed to assess the quality of underground water in different areas of Tripoli city. All the samples were analyzed for the major physicochemical parameters including: pH, temperature, Total Hardness (TH), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Chloride (Cl-), Nitrate (NO3-), Sulphate (SO4--), Carbonate (CO3), Bicarbonate (HCO3) and ammonia (NH3) by using standard analytical methods. The results were analyzed and compared with the Libyan Standard No. 82 for Drinking Water and WHO Water Quality Guidelines. All samples were also evaluated for a possible microbial contamination. The obtained results indicated that the water was found to vary from place to place. The results revealed that the underground water was not suitable for drinking as well as for domestic purposes due to significant variation of most of the physicochemical data from the standard limit which was high in water samples collected from Tajoura areas. It means the ground water of this area needs a considerable degree of purification treatment before use. The results obtained from this study revealed that the Cl value ranging between (106-798 mg/L), SO4 (28-335 mg/L), NH3 (0.05-0.98 mg/L) are also lower than that of the WHO and Libyan Standards. Overall, it has been stated that a combined Physico chemical and microbial aspects become an effective method of monitoring drinking water. Such investigation is needed to know possible sources of contamination such as storage tanks and pipeline to ensure the reach of safe drinking water to the users.

Keywords: Underground Water, Water Quality, Physicochemical Parameters, Bacterial Characteristic.