Using Heavy Metals Pollution Index (HPI) for assessment quality of drinking water in Maysan Province in Southern East in Iraq

Abstract

The current study is carried out to determine the water quality by heavy metal concentration from ten sites were collected from water treated that are supplied to residential areas for drinking purposes in Misan province. Eight heavy metals were selected Cobalt (Co), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and Lithium (Li). Heavy metal pollution Index HPI is calculated for assessing total quality of drinking water for human consumption with respect to heavy metals pollution. The results were revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals at all the selected sites were lower than the permissible limits depending on the Iraqi's standards. The value of HPI depending on the mean concentration was found to be 2.49246 which is far below the critical pollution index value of 100. According to these results, it can be concluded that the drinking water can be used as safe water for human consumption without any negatives impacts on human health.