干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Surface water continuously exposed to numerous environmental pollutants among which the most potentially hazardous are toxic chlorinated compounds, heavy metals, residual chemicals and radioactive compounds. Heavy metals can enter waters through natural and anthropogenic sources. Most heavy metal contaminants originate from different natural sources such as magmatic, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. The origin of heavy metals in surface and groundwater are also from anthropogenic sources due to human activities such as industrial production and agriculture. Many of heavy metals have been detected in different environmental compartments. Konya (in Turkey) watershed is a closed basin and has 4.52 billion m3 water capacity. Surface water sources are being polluted by anthropogenic sources such as domestic, agricultural and industrial activities. The determination of the water quality of surface water sources in Konya closed basin is very important. Because Konya closed basin is the biggest closed basin in Turkey and larger part of Turkey is in semi-arid climate area. In this work 32 monitoring stations were selected for investigation of heavy metal pollution within the closed basin. Water samples collected from these monitoring stations were analysed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), aluminum (Al), beryllium (Be), selenium (Se) using Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results obtained were compared with drinking and irrigation waters guidance values given by the Turkish Regulations, the European Community Council Directive 98/83/EC, US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.