Assessment of Drinking Water Quality From Pilot Desalination Stations in Hail City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The present study was carried out to assess the quality of drinking water produced by private pilot desalination stations designed to lower the groundwater salinity in Hail city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The assessment was done by investigating the physicochemical water characteristics and heavy metals concentrations. Representing water samples were collected from the drinking water treatment stations scattered along the seventeen districts in Hail city. Water quality characteristics include: pH, Turbidity, TDS, NO2-, NO3-, Ca2+, Mg2+, total hardness, calcium hardness and magnesium hardness as well as the concentrations of the heavy metals: Fe, Mn and Pb. Water quality parameters were compared to the Saudi and Gulf standards for unbottled drinking water. The obtained results revealed that most of the studied parameters fall within the national and regional standards. However, some treatment stations showed high concentrations of the heavy metals above the permissible levels, which cause undesirable health and aesthetic effects, and make them unfit for human consumption. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for the continuous monitoring of these water desalination plants and implementation of all the environmental health regulations and conditions by the responsible local governmental authorities