Evaluation of the drinking water quality index in Dibis district, Kirkuk

Abstract

In this study, a weighted arithmetic water quality index (WQI) model was used to evaluate the quality of water from the water treatment plant in Dibis district, Kirkuk. The assessment was conducted at five sites from October 2023 to April 2024. The water samples were analysed for physical properties (turbidity, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and electrical conductivity), chemical properties (pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, chloride, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus), and bacterial properties (total bacterial count, coliform bacteria, and faecal coliform bacteria). The sites were the raw water intake from the Lower Zab River, the water pumping area, and the Dur Al-Naft, Diyarbakir, and Kolan neighbourhoods. The results showed poor water quality at the raw water intake (WQI = 197.78), whereas the treated water at sites 2, 3, 4, and 5 was of excellent quality, with WQI values of 18.10, 17.61, 47.96, and 30.40, respectively. These findings indicate that the treatment plant effectively produces water suitable for drinking and domestic use.