Assessment of Groundwater Pollution in Different Locations of Al-khums City, Libya

Abstract

A study was carried out in different areas of Al-Khums City (KH) as Celine (CN), Al- Mergub (MG), and Suk-Al-Khamis (Sk). Four samples were collected from eight wells sites 0.5 to 9km away from Mediterranean Sea coast in summer season, The samples were analyzed for their pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), Alkalinity (TA), Total hardness (TH), Na+,K+,Mg+2,Ca+2, Cl-,SO4-2, HCO3-, as well as the evaluation of the degree of heavy metal contamination such as (iron , zinc, and cadmium) present in the samples. Results showed that the water quality status was found to vary place to place. The results were analyzed and compared with water quality guidelines (WHO). The results detected that the ground water was not proper for drinking as well as domestic purposes due to significant variation of most of the results from the standard permissible limit which was high in water samples collected from nearby coastal areas such as Suk-Al-Khuamis (Sk) and Al-Khums (KH. Results of this study suggest that the ground water of the area needs a substantial degree of purification treatment before using for drinking and domestic purposes