Geochemical Multi-Element ICP-OES Analysis of Borehole Waters from SE Anatolia

Abstract

Water supply from boreholes is today used by people from rural areas of Turkey more commonly due to the reduction of available surface water. For this reason, the concentrations of Al, As, B, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, and Zn in borehole waters of the Diyarbakir province (SE Anatolia) were determined in this study. Thirty borehole waters were sampled from different towns and villages. The samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results of the analyses were compared with guidelines as set by Turkey, the WHO, and the EU. From the results it could be concluded that the ICP-OES method can be considered useful for the routine determination of trace elements in waters and similar matrices. For quality control purposes, the certified reference material TMDW-B Drinking Water was employed for validation. The recovery values were in the range of 93-101%. The Al, As, B, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Sn concentrations in the samples were found lower than the recommended LOD. The concentrations found were in the range of 12.71-111.4 mg/L for Na, 0.76-3.07 mg/L for K, 9.62-115.5 mg/L for Ca, 2.69-41.85 mg/L for Mg, <LOD of 0.12 mg/L for Se, <LOD of 0.21 mg/L for Fe, and <LOD of 0.52 mg/L for Zn. While some of the results were at acceptable guideline limits, the Se amount in six samples was higher than the suggested limit of >10 mu g/L.