Sources of Nitrate and Bromide ContaminantsinGroundwater ofthe Alluvial Aquifer of Arak, Iran

Subject Areas : Journal of Water Sciences Research

Feridon Ghadimi ¹ , Mohammad Ghomi ² , Reza Azimi ³

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Mining Engineering, Arak University of Technology, Arak, Iran
2 - Department of Mining Engineering, Arak University of Technology, Arak, Iran
3 - Markazi Regional Water Company

Received: 2015-05-15 Accepted : 2015-08-21 Published : 2015-11-10

Keywords: factor analysis, Arakaquifer, Mighan Lake, Nitrate and bromide, Salty water,

Abstract :

The present study investigated NO3- and Br- contamination in groundwater of Arak aquifer, Markazi province, Iran. Correlation and factor analyzes were used to detecti nterrelations and sources of NO3- and Br- ion concentration and other physicochemical variables. No correlation was observed between NO3- and otherscontents, but a positive correlation was identified between Br-and other majorvariables such as EC, TDS, Cl- and SO42-in the groundwater.The results showed that groundwater samples of two areas of Arak aquifer were severely contaminated by NO3- (up to 50 mg/L) and Br-(up to 0.5mg/L),which exceededthe WHO and EU provision alguideline values. Nitrate showed an anthropogenic source that originated from sewage water from domestic and industrial activities. Bromide originated from palaeo-salty water of Mighan Lake with a geogenic source.