Evaluation of groundwater quality for drinking purposes: a case study from the Beheshtabad Basin, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran

Groundwater quality monitoring is of great importance in Iran’s arid and semi-arid regions where water scarcity exists. This study assessed background information on groundwater quality and heavy metals concentration in the spring water of the Beheshtabad Basin, located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran, to examine the suitability of the groundwater for drinking. Groundwater samples were collected from five springs in the basin during the time frame of February 2014 and September 2015 and analyzed in terms of physicochemical characteristics such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), cations, anions, and heavy metal concentration. These parameters were used to determine the groundwater’s suitability for domestic purposes by comparing their measured values to the maximum permissible limits according to recommendations of the World Health Organization. The results revealed that most groundwater samples are suitable for drinking. During the rainy season, however, spring waters are bacteriologically contaminated and unsuitable for human consumption. As important parameters for determining drinking water quality, water quality index (WQI) values in the present study indicated very poor quality water for some groundwater samples in the area dominated by weathering of rocks and dissolution of salts from the bedrock into the water resources, which can be a serious threat to the ecological habitat.