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A Mathematical Models to Assessment Pollution of Water and Sediments of

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Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3216 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0948 (Online)
Vol.7, No.1, 2017

A Mathematical Models to Assessment Pollution of Water and

Sediments of Auda Marsh
Bashar J. J. Al-Sabah Hashim H. Kareem Aldhahi
College of Agriculture , University of Misan , Misan Province , Iraq

Abstract
A study was carried out to investigate the quality of water and sediments of Auda marsh, Amara, southern Iraq.
Used some mathematical models for assessment water and sediments quality. Values of Sodium Adsorption
Ratio (SAR) ranged between 2.63 to 7.31 meq.l-1. It was observed that all sites were good for irrigation
(SAR˂10). The mean concentration of metals (Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu) ranged between 1365-3735, 6.00-7.70, 4.50-
10.50 and 4.15-8.15 mg.kg-1 respectively. Values of Enrichment Factor (EF) varied from 12.5 to 38.0, considered
to be contaminated with that particular elements (EF>5). Values of Contamination Factor (CF) ranged from
0.037 to 0.385, this mean low contamination factor and low degree of contamination at all sites (Cd˂ 7). The
calculated CFs were found to fall in the following sequence Pb>Cu>Fe>Zn. Values of Pollution Load Index (PLI)
and Metal Pollution Index (MPI) were ranged between 0.095 to 0.145 and 583.21 to 1333.09 respectively. The
lower values of PLI indicated that it is lied between perfection and only baseline levels of pollutant present
(PLI=0-1), while MPI values indicated that it is a considerable contamination (MPI>2). Values of
Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) varied from -3.42 to -1.44, these indicated that unpolluted situation for all stations
(Igeo˂0). Metal enrichment index (SEF) values varied from 0.029 to 0.385 this indicated unpolluted stations
(SEF˂1).
Keywords: pollution, Auda marsh, contamination indices, water & sediment quality.

1. Introduction
The Iraqi marshes are freshwater wetland of unique ecosystem. The biome mostly include plants, and many
animals, which inhabit this rich environment (Al-Saad et al., 2010). The Iraqi marshlands are one of the finest
and most extensive natural wetland ecosystems in Europe and western Asia (Evans, et al., 2002). About 85% of
the Mesopotamian Marshlands have been lost mainly as a result of drainage and damming ((UNEP, 2002).Auda
marsh consider one of the important marshes in Iraq, lies in Amara city about 60 km to the south of city Centre,
its part of the Al-Hawizeh marsh.
Humans have always depended on aquatic systems for drinking, food and materials as well as
recreational and commercial purposes such as fishing and tourism (Phuong et al., 1998). Pollution of natural
environment especially aquatic systems by different pollutants such as heavy metals is a worldwide problem
because these metals are indestructible and most of them have toxic effects and will give adverse effect to the
aquatic organisms and human (Elias et al., 2011).
Heavy metals in sediments and aquatic systems have natural and anthropogenic origin, distribution and
accumulation of metals are influenced by mineralogical composition, adsorption, sediment texture, desorption
process and oxidation-reduction state and physical transport (Abdul Aziz et al., 2010 ; Hasan et al., 2010).
Trace amounts of heavy metals can be found in fresh waters from different sources such as weathering
of rocks resulting into geo-chemical recycling of heavy metal elements in these ecosystems (Zvinowanda et al.,
2009). Marsh sediments are normally the final pathway of both natural and anthropogenic components derived to
the environment. Quality of sediments is a good indicator of pollution in water (Praveena et al., 2007).
The marshes of the middle and lower basin of the Tigris and Euphrates River in Iraq are the most
extensive wetland ecosystems in the middle East. These to great rivers have created a vast network of wetlands,
which is known as Mesopotamian marshes, covering about 15,000 to 20,000 km2 (Al-Saad et al., 2010).
Water quality is a good expression used to assessment of water for drinking, industry, agriculture etc.
Water is the major source for irrigation in Iraq. The quality of water depend on the nature composition of the soil,
depth of water table, topography, climate, etc. (Anant, 2012).
The present work aimed to investigate the pollutants levels including the accumulation of some heavy
metals (Iron, lead, Zinc and Cupper) in sediments of Auda marsh as well as to assessment of water quality for
agricultural purposes.

Materials and Methods

Water sampling:
Water sampling were collected monthly, during summer season (June, July and August), 2015. This study was
carried out involving 5 fixed stations as shown in Fig.(1) in Auda marsh, southern Iraq.
Fifteen parameters were measured such as (pH, EC, TDS, TSS, T.H, Alkalinity, BOD, Ca, Mg, Na, K,
Cl, NO3, SO4, and PO4). All samples were taken from the surface layer (10 cm), all these parameters were

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Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3216 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0948 (Online)
Vol.7, No.1, 2017

analyzed according to APHA (1995).

For assessment of water quality for agricultural purposes, used the express Sodium Adsorption Ratio
(SAR).

Figure 1. Mapping of study area with the location of sampling points

Sediments sampling
Five sediment samples were collected at the same period (summer season), 2015. Surface sediment samples were
taken at a depth of 0-10 cm along the bank which was quickly packed in air tight polythene bags. Sub-samples of
the material were oven dried at 45ºC for 48 hours and ground , Then sieved by a sieve (2 mm). The sampling
were then stored in a polythene container ready for digestion and analysis (Harikumar and Jisha, 2010) .

Analysis of sediment samples

The pH of the sediments was measured in 1:1 sediment to water ratio (Conyers and Davey, 1988). Electrical
conductivity was measured in saturation extract of sediments using an EC meter and organic matter was
measured according to Page et al., (1982). Texture of sediments was measured by used the Pipette method
(Black, 1965).
The degree of contamination in the sediments is determined with the help of some parameters to assess
trace elements concentration (Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu) according to Page et al., (1982), is mathematically expressed
as :

Determination of enrichment factor:

EF = (Ci / Fe)sample / (Ci / Fe)background
Where, Ci is the concentration of element i. The background value is that of average shale (Turekian and
Wedepohl, 1961).

Determination of contamination factor and degree of contamination:

CF = metal concentration in sediments / Background value of the metal (Hakanson et al., 1980).
Cd = ∑ Cf Where, Cf is the contamination factor. i=1

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Determination of pollution load index:

1/n
PLI= [ Cf1 * Cf2 * …….. * Cfn]
Where, n is the number of metals (four in this study) and Cf is the contamination factor (Tomilson et al., 1980).

Determination of metal pollution index:

1/n
MPI= (M1, M2, M3, ……Mn)
Where, Mn is the concentration of metal n expressed in mg/kg of dry weight (Usero et al., 1996).

Determination of the geoaccumulation index:

Igeo= log2 ( Cn/ 1.5 x Bn)
Where, Cn is the measured concentration of element n in the sediment and B is the geochemical background value
in average shale of element n and 1.5 is the background matrix correction due to Terrigenous effects (Muller,
1969).

Determination of metal enrichment index:

SEF= Ci – Co / Co
Where, Ci is the total concentration of each metal i measured in the sediment; Co the heavy metal background
level established for the ecosystem studied (Riba, et al., 2002a).

Results and Discussion

The analyzed physic-chemical parameters of water of the Auda marsh are shown in Table 1. The pH values
ranged between 8.11 to 8.34 which was in the basic side and its within the recommended ranged (USEPA,
1989). EC values were ranged from 750 to 3220 µmhos.cm-1. Mean values of the alkalinity and total hardness
were 100.56 mg CaCO3.L-1 and 766.80 mg CaCO3.L-1 respectively. High values of alkalinity and total hardness
may be attributed to the nature of mineral structure of sediments or parent material (Al-Manssory et al., 2004),
and precipitate of carbonates because the high temperature (Bhuvanoswaran et al., 1999).
Table 1. Physic-chemical properties of surface water of Auda marsh
properties locations
1 2 3 4 5 Min. Max. Mean
pH 8.16 8.18 8.34 8.11 8.22 8.11 8.34 8.20
EC 750 960 3220 770 1750 750 3220 3.20
TDS 1840 2300 963 967 900 900 2300 100.56
TSS 9.3 3.5 9.3 673 0.5 0.5 673 613.20
BOD 1.7 1.8 2.2 6.9 3.4 1.7 6.9 635.20
TH 1080 1440 414 540 360 360 1440 0.119
Alkalinity 105 130 92 117 58.8 58.8 130 4.31
Na 500 637 154.2 201 114.5 114.5 637 766.80
K 7.19 8.56 4.02 5.23 3.93 3.93 8.56 131.02
Ca 180 237.5 79.2 72 86.4 72 237.5 104.92
Mg 150.5 202.1 51.6 86 34.4 34.4 202.1 321.34
Cl 946 1196 301 332 291 291 1196 5.78
NO3 6.88 6.02 2.87 2.96 2.83 2.83 6.88 17.98
SO4 1012 1262 328 232 342 232 1262 1394.00
PO4 0.097 0.104 0.159 0.201 0.036 0.036 0.201 1490.00
* all values in mg.l-1 except EC in µmhos.cm-1
Mean values of TDS,TSS and BOD were 1394.00, 17.98 and 3.20 mg.l-1 respectively. The mean
concentrations of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42- and PO42- were 321.34, 5.78, 131.02, 104.92, 613.20,
4.31, 635.20 and 0.119 mg.l-1 respectively. High concentrations in some of ions may be attributed to the
anthropogenic effects as well as the high temperature in sampling period (summer season) which due to the
increasing in evaporation (Al-Sabah, 2013).
For assessment water quality of Auda marsh for agricultural purposes, used the express Sodium
Adsorption Ratio (SAR), which ranged between 2.63 meq.l-1 in site 5 to 7.31 meq.l-1 in site 2 (Table 2). The
water having SAR ˂10 is good for irrigation. It was observed that all the sites were good for irrigation (USEPA,
1974 ; Al-Sabah, 2013).

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Table 2. SAR values for the water of Auda marsh and its classification (USEPA,1974)
location EC µmhos.cm-1 SAR Class
meq.l-1
1 750 6.63 C2S1
2 960 7.31 C3S2
3 3220 3.30 C4S1
4 770 3.77 C3S1
5 1750 2.63 C3S1
Min. 750 2.63
Max. 3220 7.31
Mean 1490 4.73
From the results shown in Table 3, the mean values of pH, EC and organic matter (OM) of sediments
samples were 7.75, 1490 µmhos.cm-1 and 3.16% respectively. High percentage of organic matter can be
attributed to the high amounts of plants residues and animals in marshes environment which add high amounts of
organic matter to the sediments after decomposition as well as the nature off texture of these sediments
(Molisani, 1999).
Table 3. Physio-chemical analyses of study sediments
locations pH EC O.M Sand silt clay texture
µmhos.cm-1 % gm.kg-1
1 7.64 2750 3.1 180 430 390 Silty Clay
2 7.67 3250 2.9 179 473 348 Silty Clay
3 7.94 2800 3.3 126 447 327 Silty Clay
4 7.64 3100 3.1 111 461 328 Silty Clay
5 7.87 3300 3.4 191 435 356 Silty Clay
Min. 7.64 2750 2.9 111 430 348
Max. 7.94 3300 3.4 191 473 428
Mean 7.75 3040 3.16 157.4 389.8 452.8

Assessment of Metal Contamination :

Assessment according to Enrichment Factor (EF)
The mean concentration of heavy metals were ranged between 5.79 mg.kg-1 for Cu to 2465 mg.kg-1 for Fe (Table
4).
Table 4. Concentrations of heavy metals in sediments
locations Fe Pb Zn Cu
ug.gm-1
1 1365 7.50 8.00 4.15
2 1730 6.00 7.50 4.40
3 2160 7.10 5.00 5.00
4 3335 7.00 10.5 7.25
5 3735 7.70 4.50 8.15
Min. 1365 6.00 4.50 4.15
Max. 3735 7.70 10.5 8.15
Mean 2465 7.06 7.10 5.79
The enrichment factor is a convenient measure of geochemical trends and is used for making
comparisons between areas . A value of 0.5 ≤ EF ≤ 1.5 suggest that traces of metals may be due to crustal
materials or natural weathering processes. According to Harikumar and Jisha, 2010, EF values greater than 1.5
have such heavy metals derived from other sources suggesting environmental contamination by those particular
heavy metals.
From the results (Table 5) the EF values ranged from 14.00 to 38.00, these values greater than 5 are
considered to be contaminated with that particular element (Khan et al., 1992).

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Table 5. Enrichment Factor (EF) of heavy metals with respect to each location and classification (Sutherland,
2000)
Heavy metal locations
1 2 3 4 5
Fe 34.22 26.99 21.62 14.00 12.50
Pb 34.31 28.83 21.86 14.92 12.87
Zn 34.47 27.06 23.10 14.27 13.33
Cu 38.00 28.22 23.10 14.46 12.82
EF indices Degree of Enrichment Heavy metal
EF ≤ 1 background concentration
EF 1-2 depletion to minimal enrichment
EF 2-5 moderate enrichment
EF 5-20 significant enrichment Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu
EF 20-40 very high enrichment Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu
EF > 40 extremely high enrichment

Assessment According to Contamination Factor ( FC ) and Degree of Contamination (Cd)

The contamination factor (CF) and the degree of contamination (Cd) are used to determined the contamination
status of sediment in this study. CF values ranged from 0.037 to 0.385 (Table 6). All values were less than 1, this
mean low contamination factor (Harikumar et al., 2009). The degree of contamination (Cd) was defined as the
sum of all contamination factors and these values were given in Table 5. Values of Cd ranged from 0.514 to
0.693 , this mean low degree of contamination at all sites Cd ˂ 7 (Harikumar et al., 2009). The calculated CFs
were found to fall in the following sequence :
Pb > Cu > Fe > Zn
Table 6. Contamination Factor (CF) of heavy metals in sediments and classes (Hakanson, 1980)
Heavy metal locations
1 2 3 4 5
Fe 0.229 0.037 0.046 0.071 0.080
Pb 0.375 0.300 0.355 0.350 0.385
Zn 0.084 0.079 0.053 0.111 0.047
Cu 0.092 0.098 0.111 0.161 0.181
Degree of Contamination
(Cd) 0.580 0.514 0.565 0.693 0.693
EF indices Degree of Contamination Heavy metal
CF ˂ 1 Low contamination Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu
1 ≥ CF ≤ 3 Moderate contamination
3 ≥ CF ≤ 6 Considerable contamination
CF > 6 Very high contamination

Assessment According to Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Metal Pollution Index (MPI)
Values of PLI and MPI were ranged between 0.095 to 0.145 and 583.21 to 133.09 respectively (Table 7). The
lower values of PLI indicates that it is lied between perfection and only baseline levels of pollutants present
PLI= 0-1 (Tomilson et al., 1980). These results agree with many studies ( praveena et al., 2007; Mohiuddin et al.,
2010). Whereas the high values of MPI indicated that it is a considerable contamination for the previous four
metal (MPI > 2) according to the classification of Goncalves et al., (1992).
Table 7. Values of Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Metal Pollution Index (MPI) for Auda marsh sediments
locations Fe Pb Zn Cu PLI MPI
ug.gm-1 dry weight
1 1365 7.50 8.00 4.15 0.095 583.21
2 1730 6.00 7.50 4.40 0.096 585.26
3 2160 7.10 5.00 5.00 0.099 619.19
4 3335 7.00 10.5 7.25 0.145 1333.09
5 3735 7.70 4.50 8.15 0.127 1027.01
PLI indices Pollution level locations
0 Perfection between
1 Only baseline levels of pollutants present 0 &1
>1 Progressive deterioration of the site

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Assessment According to Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo)

The geoaccumulation index (Igeo), introduced by Muller (1969) for determining the extent of metal
accumulation in sediments. The mean values of (Igeo) ranged from -3.42 to -1.44 (Table 8). These values
according to the Muller scale (Table 9) indicated that unpolluted situation for all stations (Igeo ˂ 0), these results
agreed with study of (Ahdy and Khaled, 2009; Harikumar and Jisha, 2010).
Table 8. Values of Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of heavy metals in sediments
locations Igeo
Fe Pb Zn Cu
1 - 3.96 - 1.38 - 2.87 - 2.78
2 - 3.70 - 1.60 - 2.94 - 2.73
3 - 3.47 - 1.44 - 3.35 - 2.60
4 - 3.04 - 1.45 - 2.60 - 2.23
5 - 2.93 - 1.36 - 3.45 - 2.11
mean - 3.42 - 1.44 - 3.04 - 2.49

Table 9. Muller’s classification for the Geoaccumulation index (Muller, 1979)

Igeo value Class Quality of Sediments
˂0 0 Unpolluted
0-1 1 Unpolluted to moderately polluted
1-2 2 Moderately polluted
2-3 3 Moderately to strongly polluted
3-4 4 Strongly polluted
4-5 5 Strongly to very strongly
>6 6 Very strongly polluted

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