Quality assessment of groundwater resources in the city of Al-Marj, Libya

Abstract

This study aimed to assess and compare the quality of groundwater in the city of Al-Marj in Libya with the international standard guidelines for drinking water recommended by the World Health Organisation. An evaluation of the groundwater wells in the study area was conducted. Standard techniques, such as Minitab (v. 16) and ArcGIS (v.10.2), were used for the analytics of the physicochemical and biological parameters of the groundwater samples. An assessment of the calculation of groundwater quality was conducted on the basis of temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chloride, sulphate, bicarbonate, total hardness, calcium, potassium, magnesium, ammonia, ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate, sodium, copper, iron, dissolved oxy-gen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, Escherichia coli and total coliform bacteria. Results indicated that most groundwater wells in the study area display a higher concentration of several parameters compared with the permissible limits of drinking water; thus, the water in these wells is chemically and biologically unsafe for drinking purposes. On the basis of the above results, routine water quality monitoring should be performed and addi-tional water filtration plants should be installed by the local government to obtain safe drinking water.