MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF THE CONCENTRATION LEVELS OF TOTAL IRON AND MANGANESE IN THREE RESERVOIRS OF THE MAN MADE RIVER, LIBYA

摘要

The concentration levels of total iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) were determined in the raw water of three reservoirs of the Man Made River. The three water reservoirs are Sirt, Ajdabiya, and Al-Talhiya reservoirs. Fe and Mn were detected in all the raw water samples collected from the three reservoirs and significant variations in their concentrations have been observed (P＜0.001). High concentration levels of the total Fe and Mn were observed in water samples collected from Al-Talhiya reservoir, while the low concentration levels of the total Fe and Mn were observed in the Sirt reservoir. The results indicated that, the mean levels of total Fe and Mn in the raw water of Al-Talhiya reservoir (0.732±0.41 mgL~(-1) for total Fe and 0.269±0.012 mgL~(-1) for total Mn) and Ajdabiya reservoir (0.535±0.053 mgL~(-1) for total Fe and 0.202±0.019 mgL~(-1) for total Mn) were much higher than the maximum permissible level for drinking water of 0.3 mg/L and 0.1 mg/L for Fe and Mn, respectively, as given by the World Health Organization (WHO 2011) and Libyan Water Quality Standard (1982). However, the mean levels of total Fe and Mn in the raw water of Sirt reservoir (0.293±0.048 mgL~(-1) for total Fe and 0.106±0.024 mgL~(-1) for total Mn) was well below the permissible levels. The results also indicated that, there is a close relationship between raw water quality and total Fe and Mn levels in raw water at these reservoirs.