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Showing 11 results for Groundwater
Ahmadreza Yari, Hossein Jafari Mansoorian, Gharib Majidi, Ghazal Yazdanpanah, Ali Sayfouri, Volume 3, Issue 3 (6-2016)
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical quality of groundwater in the villages of Qom province during summer 2014, and to compare the results with Iran’s Standard No. 1053.
Methods: This research is a descriptive sectional study. During the investigation, one step sampling with the necessary repetitions (if necessary) was performed of each well for evaluation of physical and chemical quality of groundwater in the villages of Qom province. SPSS version 16 and ARCGIS software were employed for data analysis and data zoning respectively.
Results: The average concentration of magnesium, sulfate and ammonia in wells water were higher than standard. The average concentration of fluoride was lower than the standard limit. pH and turbidity in all wells were within the standard limit but sulfate in 33.33%, ammonia in 13.33%, magnesium in 10.66%, sodium in 40%, calcium in 5.33%, nitrate in 17.33%, total dissolved solids (TDS) in 14.66% and electrical conductivity (EC) in 24% of wells were higher than the standard limit, and fluorine in 98.66% of wells was lower than the standard limit. The results of zoning in the villages of Qom province revealed that measured values at most wells were in the maximum amount in central and northeastern areas and minimum amount in southern and western areas.
Conclusion: This study indicated that most of the physicochemical parameters such as fluoride in almost all villages, and sulfates, chloride, magnesium, sodium, calcium, nitrate, TDS and EC in some of the wells did not fall within the permissible limit.
Ali Akbar Mohammadi, Mansour Ghaderpoori, Mahmood Yousefi, Malihe Rahmatipoor, Safoora Javan, Volume 3, Issue 4 (10-2016)
Abstract
Background: One issue of concern in water supply is the quality of water. Measuring the qualitative parameters of water is time-consuming and costly. Predicting these parameters using various models leads to a reduction in related expenses and the presentation of overall and comprehensive statistics for water resource management.
Methods: The present study used an artificial neural network (ANN) to simulate fluoride concentrations in groundwater resources in Khaf and surrounding villages based on the physical and chemical properties of the water. ANN modeling was applied with regard to diverse inputs.
Results: The MLP1 model with eight inputs of parameters such as root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient of actual and predicted outputs exhibited the best results. The lowest fluoride concentration (0.15 mg L-1) was found in Sad village, and the highest concentration (3.59 mg L-1) was found in Mahabad village. Based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, 56.6% of the villages are in the desirable range, 33.3% of them had fluoride concentrations below standard levels, and 10% had higher than standard concentrations of fluoride.
Conclusion: The simulation results from the testing stage for MLP1 as well as the high conformity between experimental and predicted data indicated that this model with its high confidence coefficient can be used to predict fluoride concentrations in groundwater resources.
Soheil Sobhanardakani, Lobat Taghavi, Behzad Shahmoradi, Amin Jahangard, Volume 4, Issue 1 (3-2017)
Abstract
Background: Iran is located within the dry and semi dry regions, thus almost 90% of the required water is secured via the use of groundwater. Owing to the increasing pollution of water resources, this study was performed to evaluate water quality pollution indices for heavy metals (As, Zn, Pb and Cu) contamination monitoring in Toyserkan Plain during spring and summer in 2012.
Methods: A total of 20 ground water wells were chosen randomly. The samples were filtered (0.45 μm) and kept cool in polyethylene bottles. Samples were taken for the analysis of metals, the former was acidified with HNO3 to pH lower than 2. Metal concentrations were determined using ICP-OES.
Results: The results revealed that the mean values of contamination index (Cd), heavy metal pollution index (HPI) and heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) in samples for spring season were -2.81, 9.74 and 1.20, respectively and were -2.67, 9.51 and 1.32, respectively in samples for summer season and this indicates low contamination levels. Comparing the mean concentrations of the evaluated metals with WHO permissible limits demonstrated a significant difference (P < 0.05). Thus, the mean concentrations of the metals were significantly lower than the permissible limits.
Conclusion: Although the heavy metal pollution of the ground water in Toyserkan Plain is not higher than permissible limits, the irregular and long-term utilization of agricultural inputs, use of wastewater and sewage sludge in agriculture, over utilization of organic fertilizers and establishment of pollutant industries can threaten the ground water, and cause irreversible damages in this area.
Amin Mohebbi Tafreshi, Ghazaleh Mohebbi Tafreshi, Volume 4, Issue 4 (10-2017)
Abstract
Background: A new method has been presented specifically for zoning the quality of groundwater for drinking purposes; this method is the groundwater quality index (GQI) method. The present research used the GQI method to qualitatively zoning of the Lenjan groundwater for drinking purposes.
Methods: Three phases were applied in this research. In the first phase, working on the quality data of 38 wells within the studied plain, the raster map of quality concentration parameters, including pH, TDS, Cl, SO4, Ca, Mg, and Na parameters, was provided by interpolation using the kriging method in the ArcGIS software. In the second phase, the mentioned maps were standardized so that various bits of data can follow a common standard and scale. In the third phase, weight was applied to each standardized map, and ultimately the classification map for each parameter was drawn. The final GQI map was created by combining the mentioned classification maps.
Results: The GQI values for Lenjan plain were rated from the minimum (67.48) to the maximum (90.05). The results showed an average to acceptable level of quality for drinking water.
Conclusion: According to the final map, the central and southern parts of Lenjan plain, which have acceptable GQI rankings, are the best zones from which to use groundwater for drinking purposes.
Meysam Alizamir, Soheil Sobhanardakani, Volume 4, Issue 4 (10-2017)
Abstract
Background: The effects of trace elements on human health and the environment gives importance to the analysis of heavy metals contamination in environmental samples and, more particularly, human food sources. Therefore, the current study aimed to predict arsenic and heavy metals (Cu, Pb, and Zn) contamination in the groundwater resources of Ghahavand Plain based on an artificial neural network(ANN) optimized by imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA).
Methods: This study presents a new method for predicting heavy metal concentrations in the groundwater resources of Ghahavand plain based on ANN and ICA. The developed approaches were trained using 75% of the data to obtain the optimum coefficients and then tested using 25% of the data. Two statistical indicators, the coefficient of determination (R2) and the root-mean-square error (RMSE), were employed to evaluate model performance. A comparison of the performances of the ICA-ANN and ANN models revealed the superiority of the new model. Results of this study demonstrate that heavy
metal concentrations can be reliably predicted by applying the new approach.
Results: Results from different statistical indicators during the training and validation periods indicate that the best performance can be obtained with the ANN-ICA model.
Conclusion: This method can be employed effectively to predict heavy metal concentrations in the groundwater resources of Ghahavand plain.
Bahareh Lorestani, Hajar Merrikhpour, Mehrdad Cheraghi, Volume 7, Issue 2 (5-2020)
Abstract
Background: Heavy metals (HMs) contamination from industrial wastewater is a major environmental problem that has been increasing in the past few years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of HMs contamination in Bu-Ali industrial town, Hamedan, western Iran.
Methods: The concentration of 9 serious HMs (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc) in groundwater samples was studied during spring 2017. In order to evaluate water quality for aquaculture and drinking purposes, heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), and contamination (Cd) indicator were calculated. Health risk of HMs was also calculated to assess the risk of cancer.
Results: The results showed that the mean concentration of the HMs according to the Cd index was as follows: Pb > Ni > Cr > Fe > Cd > As > Cu > Zn > Mn. The mean HEI and HPI values were 89.1 and 815.5, respectively. The results also showed that there was no relationship between the HMs concentration and cancer risk.
Conclusion: The concentration of the studied HMs in most samples was higher than the permissible limit for drinking water. The HEI and HPI values in high-risk samples were higher than the permissible limit of drinking water, therefore, there is high risk and limitation for aquatic life, but there is no risk of cancer.
Mohsen Pourkhosravani, Fatemeh Jamshidi, Nasrin Sayari, Volume 8, Issue 2 (2-2021)
Abstract
Background: Groundwater protection against pollution is a very important issue. Groundwater vulnerability maps are useful tools for protecting aquifers and assessing the potential for contamination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to prepare vulnerability maps and perform sensitivity analysis to identify the most influential factors in the vulnerability of the studied aquifer.
Methods: In this study, groundwater vulnerability to pollution was evaluated using DRASTIC, composite DRASTIC, and nitrate vulnerability (NV) models. Drastic is an index for the systematic assessment of potential groundwater pollution. In this method, the drastic index was calculated from the total weight and rank of the factors. For this purpose, first the factors affecting the pollution transfer, were weighted, ranked, and merged using GIS software. Then, using the overlapping techniques and after applying the necessary weight coefficients on each layer, a map of the vulnerability area of the study aquifer was prepared.
Results: It was revealed that there is a significant linear relationship between all three models with the distribution of nitrate concentration. Accordingly, it was the most efficient NV model, followed by the composite DRASTIC (CD) and DRASTIC models, respectively. Also, in the studied aquifer, the DRASTIC index was between 147 and 136, the combined DRASTIC index was between 70 and 190, and the nitrate index was between 13 and 132.
Conclusion: Vulnerability assessment of the studied aquifer using DRASTIC, and combined DRASTIC, and NV indices shows that, according to the DRASTIC index, 69.7% of the studied aquifer was in the medium vulnerability class. Also, according to the combined DRASTIC index, the largest area (53.62%) has low vulnerability and 31.56% has moderate vulnerability. But according to the nitrate index, 77.16% of the aquifers had very low vulnerability.
Rahim Aali, Mohammad Fahiminia, Mahdi Asadi-Ghalhari, Farzaneh Fanaei, Roqiyeh Mostafaloo, Amin Kishipour, Volume 8, Issue 4 (11-2021)
Abstract
Background: Water safety plan is a systematic approach to ensure the quality of water delivered to consumers from catchment to consumption.
Methods: This study was conducted on the groundwater system of Talesh, Gilan, in 2020-2021. A Water Safety Plan (WSP) consists of 5 phases and 12 steps. In the implementation of this plan, all modules were reviewed. Software checklists were prepared and based on the background information in Talesh Water and Wastewater Company, interviews with experts and field visits were performed, and then, entered into WSP QA TOOL software.
Results: Out of 440 raw scores, 222 points were obtained, indicating 50.45% compliance with WSP. The description system with the highest score (100%) and the management procedures with the lowest score (50%) were in line with this plan. The stages of development and supporting program and review of WSP cannot be evaluated due to the incomplete implementation of water safety plan in Talesh. Between different parts of the water supply system, more attention has been paid to production sources and points of use.
Conclusion: This study identifies the inefficiency in dependence on the final tests and the necessary items in updating the supply system of Talesh. According to the study of the different stages of WSP, the system has a moderate level of safety.
Farhad Ghayurdoost, Ali Assadi, Mohammad Reza Mehrasbi, Volume 9, Issue 3 (7-2022)
Abstract
Background: Recalcitrant organics remediation from water resources continues to be a significant environmental problem and there is a continued effort to demonstrate practicable and economical treatment options for pollution removal.
Methods: In this study, the efficiency of the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) in a column reactor using zero-valent iron (ZVI) particles and sand mixture in the removal of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from aquatic phases was investigated. The system performance was MTBE removal while initial pH,
reaction time, pollutant content, catalyst load, hydraulic loading rate (HLR), and the reaction rate constant were independent variables.
Results: The results showed that the process efficiency decreased by increasing pH, HLR, and pollutant concentration. In this case, the optimal conditions were obtained at pH = 7, HLR = 0.23 m3/m2·d, and C0 = 1 mg/L, which achieved a remarkable removal efficiency up to 90.32%. The high nitrate concentrations and hardness as intervening factors reduced process efficiency to less than 44.61 and 51.4%, respectively. The lack of interfering factors had a considerable effect on the reaction rate of MTBE reduction, which is approximately 2.65 and 4.11 times higher than that in the presence of calcium hardness and nitrate, respectively.
Conclusion: The PRB technology can be suggested as a reliable and robust system to remediate groundwater containing hydrocarbons based on filling media and hydraulic conditions.
Leila Byeranvand, Afsaneh Afzali, Volume 9, Issue 4 (10-2022)
Abstract
Background: Agricultural, industrial, and residential activities have caused the vulnerability of the groundwater of the Doroud-Boroujerd aquifer to pollution in Lorestan province, Iran. This study aimed to investigate the vulnerability of the Doroud-Boroujerd aquifer using a set of intrinsic (DRASTIC, IV) and specific (SI, LU-IV) vulnerability assessment methods.
Methods: The DRASTIC model with seven parameters of groundwater depth, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, slope, the effect of the vadose zone, and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer has the highest number of parameters. The total dissolved solids (TDS) index was used to compare the efficiency of different methods.
Results: The results showed two classes of medium and high vulnerability with an area of 73.71% and 26.3%, respectively, in the DRASTIC model. The SI model had two classes of low and medium vulnerability. The IV model had three classes of low to high vulnerability, of which the high class with an area of 75.94%, had the largest extent. The LU-IV model also included four classes of very low to very high (92.02%) vulnerability. The validation of DRASTIC, SI, IV, and LU-IV models with TDS index showed a weak correlation between vulnerability maps and TDS values, so it can be concluded that this index alone is not a good indicator for validation.
Conclusion: The results of vulnerability assessment of different methods generally showed that the groundwater of this area is highly vulnerable, so it is recommended to take the necessary measures to prevent, control, and manage these valuable water resources.
Hadjira Benhedid, Mansour Achour, Mustapha Daddi Bouhoun, Volume 11, Issue 1 (1-2024)
Abstract
Background: Heavy metals are one of the most harmful groundwater contaminants due to their toxicity and persistence in the environment. This study aimed to assess the impacts of heavy metals on the quality of groundwater within the M’Zab Valley used for human consumption and irrigation and its potential impact on public health.
Methods: In this study, the samples taken from eight phreatic aquifer wells situated along the M’Zab Valley, from upstream to downstream, were analyzed, and chronic daily intake (CDI) of cadmium, hazard quotient (HQ), and target organ risk (TOR) for the kidney were computed for child, infant, and adult age groups.
Results: It was revealed that the superficial aquifer water is of poor quality and frequently exceeds the drinking water standards, particularly for Cd, Cr, and Zn, which poses a health risk for inhabitants. The study found that the CDI values for Cd for each age group (infants, children, and adults) were below the safe limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO), but the data reveals that the concentration of the HQ is considerably greater in infants than in children and adult groups, considering that infants have the highest estimated daily intake of Cd and TOR for the kidney. Thus, infants may be exposed to a greater health risk associated with cadmium exposure.
Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, continuous monitoring of water quality and treatment measures to reduce elevated pollutant levels that harm human health are strongly advised to preserve and safeguard groundwater quality from various forms of pollution.
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