Assessment of Bacteriological Quality and Physiochemical Parameters of Domestic Water Sources in Jenin Governorate: A Case Study

Abstract

Water quality of drinking water is a concern in Palestine due to possible pollution sources. There is a demand for investigating the quality of municipal water supply. This study aimed to assess the quality of domestic water in Jenin Governorate located in the north of the West Bank. The methodology of this research was based on field sampling and laboratory standard testing. The tested parameters included (1) physicochemical parameters of electrical conductivity, turbidity, total hardness, salinity, pH, and total alkalinity, (2) chemical contents including the contents of nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, chloride, sodium, potassium, aluminum, and fluoride, and (3) biological contents including total coliforms and fecal coliforms. The water quality parameters were compared with the acceptable limits set by local and international standards. The findings confirm that most of the values of the investigated parameters are within the acceptable standard limits. No pollution of heavy metals is detectable. On the other hand, there are limited pollution contents in terms of the total dissolved solid (TDS), total hardness, and calcium. Furthermore, the biological parameters indicate that there are low to very high risks in a fraction of the water quality samples in terms of total coliforms and fecal coliforms. This is believed to be due to the presence of septic tanks in the neighborhoods of the sampling locations. For these cases, biological disinfection treatments are recommended before human use with an essential need for the construction of urban sewer systems. Furthermore, water treatment for harness removal may be required.