Trace element concentration of commercially available drinking water in Makkah and Jeddah

Abstract EN

Drinking water is an important factor in survival.

Many trace elements, both metals and non-metals, in drinking water are capable of causing human diseases if their concentrations exceed certain permissible levels.

This study was directed to measure concentrations of Zinc, Chromium and Cadmium in the commercially available drinking water in Makkah and Jeddah cities using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry technique.

A total of 94 water samples were analyzed.

The mean concentrations of the metals obtained in this study are within the maximum permissible levels for the drinking water recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Saudi Arabian Standard Organization (SASO).

Conductivity and pH of the water samples were also measured to investigate correlation between their values and the concentrations of the three metals.

A positive correlation is obtained between the metal concentrations and the corresponding conductivity values, while no significant correlation is seen between the pH values and the metal concentrations.