Abstract

INVESTIGATION OF DRINKING WATER QUALITY IN SIRTELIBYA

Salma M. M. Attaf and Hany A. Omara

Abstract

This study investigated the quality of drinking water supplied from the Man-made River (MmR) to the general drinking water network of Sirte city. A total of 18 sites were selected for water analysis. Chemical and biological parameters were determined and compared to the WHO and Libyan Standard. The analysis has been devised to investigate the possibility of quality changes in the drinking water during the study period. 59% of users responded that water quality is acceptable, where 22% of them answered the questionnaire on the quality of water by bad and only 19% good. Chemical and biological analysis revealed that the distributed water is safe to drink except in one site, (Health Institute) where the count of E. coli was notably high (1100 CFU/100 ml). Analysis also showed that the quality of MmR water remains mostly unchanged in terms of chemical and biological (micro-organisms) aspects for its transport from the main sources in Alserer and Alkoffra wells. Moreover, the water of MmR exhibits a better quality during the study period when compared to previous studies. The results obtained from this study revealed that the EC value is low (41.6-705 μs/cm) even lower than the recommended value by WHO. Other parameters such as Cl (11.7-70.2 mg/L), SO4 (17.2-104 mg/L), NO3 (0.7-9.6 mg/L) are also lower than that of the WHO and Libyan Standards. Estimation of other metals such as (Zn, Cd, Mg, Mn, Fe), were below the limits. Overall, it has been stated that a combined bio-chemical approach that has cover the investigation of both chemical and microbial aspects become an effective method of monitoring drinking water. the investigation is needed to pin point possible sources of contamination such as storage tanks and pipeline to ensure the reach of safe drinking water to the users.

Keywords: Drinking water, Libyan and WHO standards, Man-made River, Water quality.