Assessment of pollution index of heavy metals in groundwater resources of Qaleh Shahin plain (2013-2014)

Background: Today's development of industrial and agricultural activities is among the leading causes of groundwater pollution. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the quality of groundwater resources of Qaleh Shahin plain using pollution index of heavy metals.

Methods: Groundwater samples were collected from 20 randomly selected stations in Qaleh Shahin during two seasons, winter and spring in 2014. After going through laboratory preparation processes and reading the concentration of elements by ICP machine, the qualitative assessment of the samples was carried out by HPI. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS statistical package.

Results: The results showed that the maximum mean concentrations of As and Zn in groundwater samples in winter season were 12.0±0.11 and 19.40±0.50 ppb for stations 19 and 7, respectively, and the maximum mean concentrations of these elements in groundwater samples in spring season were 19.80±0.20 and 48.60±0.40 ppb for stations 15 and 13, respectively. Also, the maximum values of HPI were 11.40 and 19.5 for stations 19 and 7, respectively.

Conclusion: Currently, the groundwater resources of Qaleh Shahin plain are not contaminated with heavy metals. However, long-term excessive use of agricultural inputs can contaminate the groundwater resources of this area, thereby causing the incidence of health risks for the drinking water consumers.