Assessing Water Quality of Mamasın Dam, Turkey: Using Water Quality Index Method, Ecological and Health Risk Assessments

Abstract

The water quality of Mamasın Dam, the drinking water source for Aksaray in Turkey, is investigated for assessment of ecological and health risks according to data between December 2015 and November 2016. Water quality index, ecological risk, and health risk assessments are determined to depend on the intensity of occurrence of parameters and seasonal and spatial distributions at different depth ranges. As a result, some ions such as Al, As, B, Ba, Co, F, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn were found to be exceeding the limit values of the national regulatory standards. Besides, Pb is listed in Priority Substances and Certain Other Pollutants according to Annex II. Because the WQI values of the water quality are low (below 60), the source is suitable for industrial and agricultural usage; however, it cannot be used for drinking water supply without treatment. The trace element levels, especially Ag, Ba, Cu, Cr, and Zn, are potential pollutants for organisms. The non‐carcinogenic health risks of As threaten both adults and children at “medium” and “high” levels through oral ingestion. The B, F, and Pb elements have Hazard Index values above 0.1 and may cause a “low” level risk chronic disease for children by oral ingestion.

Implications of the FMEA Method in Evaluating Amirkabir Dam’s Environmental Risk

“…Many researchers conduct their studies regarding dam risk assessment with different methods. For example, reference [18] utilized Water Quality Index Method (WQI) for water quality evaluations and revealed that several ions, such as Al, As, B, Ba, Co, F, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn, were discovered to surpass the national regulatory standards' limit values. As a result, the WQI values of the water quality are poor (below 60), although the source is suitable for industrial and agricultural use.…”

Human Health Impact Analysis of Contaminant in IoT-Enabled Water Distributed Networks

“…The use of a feasible and effective method of assessing the quality of drinking water is essential to achieve reliable results and to facilitate informed decision-making. Since the 1960s, when Horton developed the first water quality index (WQI), many methods of assessing water quality have been proposed [13][14][15]. The rapid development of water quality assessment methods improves our understanding of water quality either by a single numeric number or by a more sophisticated interpretation of water quality characteristics [16].…”