Assessment of untreated wastewater pollution and heavy metal contamination in the Euphrates river

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impact of untreated wastewater on a section of the Euphrates River in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq. The unregulated discharge of sewage and industrial effluents has caused severe pollution in this area. The research measures electrical conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, total hardness, biological oxygen demand and heavy metals (Ni, Cr, Pb, Co, Cd, Cu, Fe) using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry. Approximately 40 water sampling stations were selected for analysis and the Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) was used to assess water quality. The study employed Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) tool, to predict HPI values and their spatial distribution. The accuracy of prediction maps was evaluated using regression analysis by comparing observed values with predicted values from the maps. The study emphasizes the excessive pollution levels in the Euphrates River, specifically exceeding Iraqi standard thresholds for Ni, Fe, and Cd concentrations.

KEYWORDS:

• Wastewater pollution
• heavy metals
• water quality assessment
• predictive mapping
• environmental impact

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Earth Observation Centre, Institute of Climate Change Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), UKM YSD Chair of Sustainability (UKMYSD-2021-003) and Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Al- Qadisiyah, Iraq for the support to conduct this study.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia [UKMYSD-2021-003].