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Assessment of groundwater quality for drinking purpose with special emphasis on salinity and nitrate contamination in the shallow aquifer of Guenniche (Northern Tunisia)

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Abstract

Monitoring the groundwater quality situation and identifying the various pollution loads’ sources are a prerequisites to finding solutions. In many areas, nitrate and salinity are one of the prime pollutants in the groundwater. This investigation is carried to present the results of a monitoring study focusing on 20 wells samples collected from the shallow groundwater of Guenniche plain (North Tunisia) during the wet season of May 2016, to present its suitability for drinking purposes with emphasis on the assessment of the presence of nitrate and salinity elements. Nitrate levels’ results show that 55% of the samples exceeded the National Tunisian standard limit (NT) and the World Health Organization standard limit (WHO). The salinity results, measured as total dissolved solids (TDS), show that 95% of the samples exceed the international standard, and 25% exceed the national standard. A total of 20% of the wells exceeded the nitrite standards. The total hardness levels indicate that 90% of the samples present very hard water. The Guenniche shallow groundwater average concentrations are categorized as follows: Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ for the cations and Cl− > SO42− > HCO3− > NO3− for the anions. Nitrate and salinity variations during the period 2006–2015 follow the rainfall fluctuation patterns. The assessment of water quality using Water Quality Index revealed that 95% of the wells’ water classes ranged between “poor”, “very poor,” and “unsuitable for drinking purposes”. Therefore, these wells are affected by anthropogenic and/or natural factors and they are inadvisable for drinking purposes, unless the water from these wells undergoes appropriate treatment before use.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions which have greatly helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript. The authors, also, wish to thank the National Society of Drinking Water in Tunisia (SONEDE “Gdir el Golla”) to provide us the laboratory in order to conduct the analysis of the groundwater. We also wish to thank the Regional Commission for Agricultural Development of Bizerte (CRDA Bizerte) for their assist and provision of the data and the essential materials used during the sampling campaign of groundwater.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Geology (SBPG), LR18 ES07, Geology Department, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 1060, Tunisia

    Nizar Troudi, Fadoua Hamzaoui-Azaza & Mounira Zammouri

  2. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece

    Ourania Tzoraki

  3. Laboratory of Geodynamics, Geo-digital and Geomaterials (GGSA) Lab3G, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, 1060, Tunis, Tunisia

    Fatheddine Melki

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  1. Nizar Troudi
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Troudi, N., Hamzaoui-Azaza, F., Tzoraki, O. et al. Assessment of groundwater quality for drinking purpose with special emphasis on salinity and nitrate contamination in the shallow aquifer of Guenniche (Northern Tunisia). Environ Monit Assess 192, 641 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08584-9

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