Drinking water quality in Ankara: A monitoring study


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Çevre Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2010

Öğrenci: GÖZDE TEZCE

Danışman: ÜLKÜ YETİŞ

Özet:

ABSTRACT DRINKING WATER QUALITY IN ANKARA: A MONITORING STUDY Tezce, Gözde MS, Department of Environmental Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ülkü Yetiş Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Filiz B. Dilek December 2010, 124 pages Following the event of severe drought experienced in 2007, it was decided to use Kesikköprü Reservoir as an additional source of water supply for the city of Ankara. Thereupon, there have been debates on the quality of Kesikköprü Reservoir water with the claims that some parameters, primarily sulfate and arsenic, were not complying with the quality standards and therefore there was a threat to public health. This study aims to determine whether the water quality in the distribution network in Ankara exceeds water quality standards, and to assess the status of water quality of Ankara. To this end, monthly samples were collected from 24 districts as distribution network water and also from the Kesikköprü Reservoir as source water, and were monitored in terms of certain water quality parameters during the period of July 2008 through June 2009. Sulfate concentration in Kesikköprü Reservoir water was measured as 300-500 mg/l and this high sulfate concentration in the source water led to high sulfate values in distribution system. On the other hand, the arsenic concentration in Kesikköprü water was analyzed between 9-11 µg/l which is lower than the expected high arsenic concentration in Kızılırmak water. Moreover, monitoring of THM and HAA in distribution network was carried out to follow DBPs formation. The highest THM concentration was observed as 109 µg/l for Bilkent in July 2008. Although for some districts and some months throughout the year THM concentration was higher than the EPA Stage-I (80 µg/l) and Stage-II (40 µg/l) limits, mean annual THM concentrations for districts in distribution system satisfies the standards. Furthermore, the highest HAA5 concentrations were determined as 75 µg/l for Dikmen in February 2009. However, annual average HAA5 in any of the districts did not exceed USEPA limit of 60 µg/l. Nonetheless, total/fecal coliform bacteria, which are the indicators of microbiological contamination, were detected in distribution system between the months of July 2008 and January 2009. However, the coliform bacteria did not appear with the increasing residual chlorine in the distribution system since January 2009. Results from this study demonstrate a temporal variability in water quality; indicating water quality deterioration in the distribution system during some months, while almost full compliance with the water quality standards during other months. Overall; due to Kesikköprü raw water, sulfate content appears to be the major concern in the water quality when considered the one-year monitoring period.