Iron in Zulfi Groundwater
Nagwa Ibrahim Mohammed*
Majmaah university –Zulfi college
Abstracts:
Groundwater is used extensively in Zulfi province for urban and rural water supply , agriculture, and industry . Thus the quality of existing supplies must be monitored and protected.
In a study of Iron concentrations in the ground water of Zulfi province , concentrations at or above 0.3 mg/L (milligrams per liter) were detected in more samples of water from wells completed in wells ( more than50 percent of all samples). Iron was detected (at maximum and minimum concentrations of
9.5mg/l and 0.5mg/l respectively. in groundwater supplies is a common problem: its concentration level ranges from 0.5 to 9.5 mg/l, while WHO recommended level is < 0.3 mg/l.
Key words: Trace metals
–
Iron Groundwater Zulfi province
Introductions:
Iron is metallic element present in many types of rock. Iron has the symbol “Fe” iron is commonly found in water and are essential elements required in small amounts by all living organisms. Concentrations of iron in groundwater are often higher than those measured in surface waters.
The Aesthetic Objective (AO) for iron in drinking water is less than or equal to
0.3
milligrams per liter (mg/L)(1)
Iron being the fourth most abundant element and second most abundant metal in the earth's crust (2),is a common constituent of ground water. The presence of iron in Ground water is generally attributed to the dissolution of iron bring rocks and minerals , chiefly oxides(hematite,magnetite,limonite),sulphides(pyrite),carbonates(siderite)and silicates pyroxene ,amphiboles ,biotites and olivine) under an aerobic conditions in the presence of reducing agents like organic matter and hydrogen supplied(3).
Thus, iron(ll) would be the predominant species in the absence of an electron acceptor such oxygen (4).The concentration of iron in natural waters is
Frequently limited by the solubility of it is carbonate. Water of high alkalinity often ,therefore, Have a lower iron content than water of low alkalinity (5).Iron concentration i n ground water normally ranges from a few hundredths to about
50 mg/1 with the majority containing<5mg/1(6).

SAMPLES AND ANALYTICAL METHODS:
Study Area: Ground water samples were collected from wells (n=10) located in the Zulfi province in Riyadh region. The sampling was carried out over four month period. The location of the wells was recorded using Geological
Positioning System (GPS). The different locations of the sampled wells are shown in Fig 2.
Fig2:The colcations of sampled wells
The sampled wells were private property. Many of the sampled wells were the main source of water for the local field.
Collection of Samples: Ground water samples were collected in 0.25-liter plastic bottles, which were previously thoroughly washed with tap water and rinsed with distilled water. These were immediately acidified to pH 2 with HNO in order to keep metals in solution and prevent them from adhering to the walls of the bottles.
All samples were transported to the laboratory in iceboxes and refrigerated at
4°C until analyzed.
Sampling protocol was designed in such a way that samples collected in one sampling schedule were analyzed in the shortest possible time Sample Analysis:
Samples were analyzed for (Iron),
Using ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer): NexION
300D (Perkin Elmer, USA). The ICP-MS calibration was carried out by external calibration with the blank solution and four working standard solutions (100,
200, 300 and 400 µg/L ) for Iron, starting from a 1000 mg/L single standard solutions for ICP-MS for trace elements.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Sample
Number
The minimum, maximum and average Iron concentrations in different parts of the Zulfi province Riyadh region has been presented in Table 1.
Table (1):
Iron (Fe) Concentration in Water Samples (µg/L) = (ng/ml) = (ppb)
Sample ID 1 Mean Concentration± 2 SD 3 %RSD
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
S11
S12
S13
S14
S15
S16
S17
S18
S19
S20
S21
S22
1/1
2/1
4/1
5/1
6/1
8/1
9/1
10/1
11/1
1/2
2/2
4/2
5/2
6/2
7/2
8/2
9/2
10/2
11/2
1/3
2/3
5/3
5052.7±57.9
9469.2±133.3
7322.0±146.4
6886.8±110.0
5329.4±69.1
6861.4±61.7
2010.4±99.9
1512.2±18.3
2389.6±23.9
3208.1±51.9
3065.7±55.2
5063.9±106.3
6547.7±43.5
5223.1±104.5
4125.3±132.0
8383.5±110.6
4136.5±78.6
6475.8±194.3
6973.3±38.5
4139.1±111.8
6754.4±148.6
4521.1±108.5
1.1
1.4
2.0
1.6
1.3
0.9
3.7
1.2
1.0
1.6
1.8
2.1
0.7
2.0
3.2
1.3
1.9
3.0
0.6
2.7
2.2
2.4

S31
S32
S33
S34
S35
S36
S37
S38
S39
S23
S24
S25
S26
S27
S28
S29
S30
7/3
8/3
9/3
10/3
11/3
1/4
2/4
5/4
6/4
4117.5±70.0
4401.7±101.2
5057.6±151.7
5517.0±99.3
3800.5±110.2
4628.0±32.4
8659.7±74.1
6754.2±168.9
4715.9±82.8
4117.8±94.7
1.7
2.3
3.0
1.8
2.9
0.7
0.9
2.5
1.8
7/4 2.3
8/4
9/4
10/4
5320.2±202.2
5818.3±145.5
4892.0±151.7
7220.1±144.4
3.8
2.5
3.1
11/4 2.0
Water not Treated 654.7±5.3
509.0±3.7
0.8
Water Treated 0.7
Tanker water 8114.7±66.1
1 Mean Concentration (Three Replicates)
2 Standard Deviation
3 Percentage Relative Standard Deviation
The minimum and maximum iron concentrations varied between 509 µg/L and
9469.20 µg/L. Measurable concentrations of the metal were found in 39 samples
0.8
(82.05% samples). However, 32 of the samples (82.05) exceeded the relevant prescribed limits for drinking water(table1)(Fig3)(7)(8)

Fe
Fe
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
40 37 34 31 28 25 22 19 16 13 10 7 4 1
0
Fig.3 the concentrations of Iron in Zulfi ground water.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
37 Water samples were collected from 10wells covering north ,west, east ,and south of Zulfi province .
The minimum and maximum concentrations in different areas for , Fe ranged between 9.469- 0.509mg/l, the maximum limits for Fe in drinking water in several was exceed the maximum limits for drinking water in several sampled wells Zulfi province in the Riyadh region.
Reference:
1-WATER STEWARDSHIP INFORMATION SERIES Iron & Manganese in
Groundwater February 2007.
2-Coordination Chemistry Reviews Volume 152, July 1996, Pages 87 – 105.
3-Adsorptive Iron Removal from Groundwater, by SARO J KUMA R SHARM
A born in Kathmandu, Nep 4-Hem1989;FaustandAl y1998
5- O'Connor1971;ASC E and AWW A 1990
6- Hem1989;Davis1997
7-Technical Support Document for Ontario Drinking Water Standards, bjectives and Guidelines June 2003 Revised June 2006
8-BURKE WATER STATION CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT –
FINAL Schedule B – Project File February 27, 2013
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*n.ibrahim@mu.edu.sa