Assessment of heavy metal content in the groundwater of the Triffa aquifer, northeastern Morocco

Anthropogenic activities, especially the agricultural practice of using pesticides and fertilizers, the use of solid waste dumpsites, and the rejection of wastewaters in the pits constitutes a major potential contamination of the groundwater in the Triffa plain, northeastern Morocco. We analyzed 41 groundwater samples for general chemistry, heavy metal content, as well as pH, temperature, and electric conductivity, during two distinct periods: March and July 2014. Our results show that the pH values range between 5.87 and 9.76, the temperature values range between 18.5 and 27.9°C, and electric conductivity (EC) values range between 1475 and 7130 µS/cm. Chemical analyses indicate that in many cases the arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) concentrations are in many cases higher than the admissible standard range established by the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water. In contrast, manganese (Mn) and nickel (Ni) levels are generally well within the admissible WHO standard. The method T-student was applied to arsenic and lead data to compare their average concentrations between these periods, and the results show that the differences are significant at p < 0.05.
Journal of Applied Science and Environmental Studies, Vol 2, No 4 (2019)