Assessment of Mineral Composition of Irrigated Water from Different Wells Around Ta’if City, Saudi Arabia

The chemical composition of water collected from different wells in Ta’if city was evaluated in order to determine the suitability as a potable or at least for irrigation. This study indicated that most of the chemical parameters such as . Ba, Cd, Cr, Zn & Fe do not fall within the permissible limit. Anions varied greatly between water sampled collected from different wells. Cl- varied between 32 - 955 mg L -1 ,which is higher than EPA standards (200 mg L -1 ). NO3 -2 ranged between 14.6- 2088 mg L-1, which is much higher that allowed levels by EPA (10 mg L-1). Similarly, NH 4 was relatively higher than standards of 10 mg L -1 in three wells out of the ten wells examined. Cations also showed similar trend, as they showed maximum in samples collected from some wells and lower concentrations and even BDL in samples collected from others. Na+ and Mg+ exceeded the standard levels (200 and 30mg L -1 respectively). K+ was lower than EPA standards of 30 mg L -1 in all samples Five metals out of the 10 elements analysed in the water samples from suburban water wells were found in concentrations exceeding various standards, which are Al, B, P , Cu and Pb However other trace metals (Fe, Ba, Cd, Cr and Zn) were not detected in all water samples