Qualitative Assessment of Water Resources for Watering Livestock and Poultry: A Case Study of The Waters of Duhok Valley, Kurdistan Region of IRAQ

Abstract

The current study was conducted to assess the water quality of Valley Duhok as a water source for drinking livestock and poultry in the region. Seventy-two water samples were collected from six sites in the valley to conduct physicochemical and biological tests, and the sub-index model (WQI) was applied to assess water quality.The results of the water quality index indicated that the water of Duhok Dam Lake (site N1) was of good quality for drinking livestock and poultry, while the rest of the sites on the valley were in the category of water very poor for drinking animals, with WQI values ranging from (204-286).This deterioration in water quality is a result of the relative increase in the three parameters of most of the studied properties, especially dissolved oxygen, organic load, and phosphate ions, to reach the values for the quality rating (Qi) and Sub-Index (Sbi)to(500and56.8),(1026and117)and(958and87.1)consecutively.