Assessment Of Heavy Metal In Spring Water, Of Rabat-Sale-Zemour–Zaer Area (Morocco)

Author: 
Ilham Nassri, Latifa Tahri, Abdelkebir Bellaouchou, Abdallah El Abidi Fatima Zahra Hafiane, Rachid Ben Aakame and Mohamed Fekhaoui

The quality of groundwater has in recent years undergone some deterioration because of uncontrolled liquid or solid urban waste, intensive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and its disorderly exploitation groundwater. It is, with this objective in mind, that the present study is to conduct a sampling campaign for a quantitative assessment of trace metals (Pb, Cu, Cd and Cr). The samples were collected between March and June 2010, 51 springs distributed over the study area sources. The results reveal the presence of a very low metal contamination compared to WHO recommended in all water sources values, except that of the source S51. For the entire study area, the Lead is the most dominant over the other heavy metals with a maximum of 15.9 μg L-1, Chrome is 10 μgL-1while the maximum copper is 6 μgL-1. However all sources show a concentration below the detection limit for cadmium. Moreover, if the concentrations recorded are not conducive to immediate concerns and cannot cause acute toxicity, the cumulative risk of lead and chromium in the various compartments of the ecosystem (water, flora and fauna) that is transmitted throughout the food chain should be noted.

Paper No: 
1888