Suitability of Ground Water in Southwest Kirkuk for Human Consumptions

Abstract

Groundwater is one of the important sources of providing the human with water for drinking and other purposes. In Iraq, most of the agricultural land far from surface water sources, which forced these farmers to use groundwater wells as a source to cover the needs of the water and uses for different household. Furthermore, in some areas of Iraq, the available surface water that is suitable for human consumption is insufficient. Hence, the ground water is the viable solution to provide drinking water.The aim of this study is to show the extent validity of the ground water for various human uses.Twenty wells were chosen at different location in the southwest of Kirkuk city. Physical and chemical tests were carried for each water samples which include nitrite- nitrogen, phosphate, total hardness as CaCo3, total dissolved solids, chloride, PH, and turbidity. The results were evaluated and compared accordingly with World Health Organization (WHO) specifications. The results showed that the ground water in the study areas not suitable for drinking because of the contamination with Nitrite – nitrogen, phosphate and high contents of total hardness and TDS