Assessment of drinking water quality and the efficiency of the Al-Buradieiah water treatment plant in Basra City

Abstract

This study was conducted on the oldest water treatment plant in the city of Basra, which is the Al-Buradieiah Water Treatment Plant (BWTP) during the period from December 2017 to March 2018. The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of the plant by calculating the efficiency of sedimentation, filtration and sterilization basins, as well as to examine the water quality by examining the physical and chemical characteristics of raw water and treated water in this plant and then compare it with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Iraqi standards. The results of this study showed that the efficiency of sedimentation basins is 54%, while the efficiency of filtration basins is 24% and sterilization efficiency ranging from 37 to 65%. As well as, laboratory results of treated water quality have also shown that the turbidity equal to (7.24 NTU), electrical conductivity (EC) equal to 5040 µS/cm, the total dissolved solids (TDS) equal to 3380 mg/L and the total suspended solids (TSS) equal to 190 mg/L of the water outside from the BWTP. All these water quality results are higher than the WHO and Iraqi standard limitations except the value of pH, which is 6.9 and within the permissible limits.