Assessment of the quality of drinking water of Halabja City-Iraqi Kurdistan

The quality of drinking water is a crucial factor for human health. The objective of this study was to assess the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the various sources of drinking water in the city of Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan. Forty water samples were collected and analyzed for physic-chemical and biological characteristics. The study included 27 samples from municipality wells and 13 samples from household tap water. Analysis was done for physico-chemical parameters including pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), Chloride (Cl ) , Alkality M, Alkality P, Aluminum (Al) , Copper (Cu) , Calcium (Ca) , Boron (B) and MPN .The results were compared with the standards prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). All the physico –chemical parameters were found to be within allowable limits. It can, therefore, be concluded that the groundwater in the study area is suitable for drinking and other household purposes. But From the pH values it is clear that the ground water of the study area is alkaline in nature and the total hardness varies between 203-323 mg/l which indicate that water in the deep aquifer is hard hence suggested to Halabjah water director to soften the tube well water before consumption. There were no statistically significant differences between water samples from wells and households in terms of these parameters. Although the drinking water of the area is considered safe. Nevertheless biological surveillance is need especially in hot weather.