A preliminary investigation of the hydrocarbon content of groundwater of Kuwait

The current distribution and level of hydrocarbon in the groundwater of the Kuwait Group and the Dammam Formation in Kuwait were investigated using water samples from a total of 42 wells. The presence of some amount of hydrocarbon compounds was indicated in many of the samples analyzed with a Fourier transform infra red (FT-IR) instrument and using a laser-induced fluorescence technique. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents of all the samples analyzed with the gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GCMS) method were, however, very low. The presence of non-oil hydrocarbons was thought to be responsible for the relatively high readings obtained from the FT-IR and fiber optics methods. Comparison of the laser-induced fluorescence spectra of water samples spiked with known pollutants with those of groundwater samples indicated that 36 of the latter were free of petroleum hydrocarbons. The remaining six were thought to contain contamination originating from an oil-based source.