Groundwater quality of Türkmen Mountain, Turkey

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the groundwater quality of Turkmen Mountain, which provides drinking water to about 250, 000 people, and to evaluate the water quality by using some multivariate statistical techniques. In this study, groundwater samples were collected from 18 stations on Turkmen Mountain in summer 2011. Some iymnological parameters and element levels in groundwater of the mountain were determined. Factor analysis (FA), cluster analysis (CA), and Pearson Correlation Index were applied to the results in order to estimate the data properly. The ArcGIS package program was used to make distribution maps of arsenic, boron, and total phosphorus (which were detected as the most critical parameters of the mountain) in order to provide visual summaries of element accumulations. Also, water samples were evaluated according to the criteria of SKKY (water pollution control regulation in Turkey) and evaluated as drinking water according to the criteria of TS266 (Turkish Standards Institute), the EC (European Communities), and WHO (World Health Organization). It was determined that arsenic accumulations of some stations exceeded the limit values specified by TS266, WHO, and the EC. Significant positive correlations were determined between arsenic and boron levels (p<0.01), and according to the FA results, the "Boron Works Factor", which was strongly positive related to the variables of arsenic and boron, was identified as the most effective component for Turkmen Mountain (25.88% of total variance). As a result, in addition to the geological structure of the mountain, mining activities and mineral recovery processes are significant effective factors of groundwater quality of Turkmen Mountain.