Water quality deterioration of the Euphrates River before entering Iraqi lands

Abstract

Euphrates River passes through Turkey and Syria before Iraq. The aim of this research is to investigate whether the water quality of the river deteriorated before entering Iraq or not. The water quality of the river was represented by measuring nine parameters including: total dissolved solids, total hardness, sulfates, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, hydrogen power, electrical conductivity, and sodium adsorption ratio. The change in water quality was determined by comparing measurements of 1998 and 2010. Paired t-tests were used to compare water quality parameters for the two years of measurements. These tests were repeated nine times for the nine water quality parameters of Euphrates River in Qaim Station (near the Iraqi- Syrian Border). The statistical decisions for these tests indicated that the deterioration of the quality of the river occurred when comparing the two years at a significant level of 0.01. The classification and appropriate beneficial use of Euphrates River was determined using Bhargava water quality index. Water quality indices were calculated for irrigation, drinking and industrial uses for the two years. The classification of the river for irrigation use was reduced from excellent to good for 1998 and 2010 respectively. The classification of the river for drinking use was reduced from good to polluted for 1998 and 2010 respectively. For industrial use, the quality degraded from acceptable to severely polluted for 1998 and 2010 respectively. These results indicate that the waters of Euphrates River were polluted in Turkey and Syria before entering Iraq. © 2014 WIT Press.