Analysis of Physico-Chemical Quality of Drinking Water in Villages of Nir County and Comparison the Results with National Standard

Background & objectives: Drinking Water is one of the ways to provide essential nutrients for the human body. However, excessive amounts of this minerals, changes the water quality and in some cases threatens human health. Therefore, considering the role of water quality in the human health, incidence of irreversible lesions due to chemical impurities in drinking water in values greater than standard, the need for continual measurement of various parameters in order to find out the drinking water conditions consumed with households and taking necessary control measures, this study aims to compare the physical and chemical quality of drinking water of the villages of Nir county by national standard. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the statistical population of the affiliated villages to Nir county, the methods of standard method book were used to measure the studied parameters. A dual-beam spectrophotometer was used to measure the parameters of nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and fluoride, and a two-channel portable multiparameter instrument was used to measure pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity. Total dissolved solids were measured by gravimetric method and the total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sulfate and chloride were measured by titration method. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS20 and Microsoft Excel 2010 software and One-Sample T Test. Results: The averages of electrical conductivity and total hardness were 669.78 μS/cm, and 227.27 mg/L.CaCO3 respectively. The other parameters including TDS, Nitrate, Nitrite, Sulfate, Phosphate, Chlorine, Fluorine, Calcium and Magnesium had average levels of 346.316, 3.410, 0.023, 76.79, 0.117, 58.10, 0.45, 58.82 and 20.40 mg/L, respectively and finally the pH was 7.77. Conclusion: Among 13 parameters measured in drinking water supplies in the county, 26 villages were under admissible limit (AL) and 82 villages were under maximum contaminant level recommended by Iranian national standards. In other words, 74% and 18% of drinking water in the villages of county did not meet AL and MCLs of national standards. According to the results, it is necessary that water supplies used in the villages of county must be subject to regular monitoring programs of water safety and environmental health.