Environmental Pollution of the Tigris River in Al-Shirqat District

Abstract

Environmental pollution is considered one of the major demographic challenges associated with population growth. It results largely from the increasing and often unregulated exploitation of natural resources across multiple sectors، including industry، agriculture، and services.This study aims to identify the sources of water pollution and examine the problems resulting from it. It also investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of polluted water and the direct and indirect impacts it may have on human health and agricultural land use.Eight variables were analyzed in this study: turbidity (NTU)، hydrogen ion concentration (pH)، chlorides (C l)، total dissolved solids (TDS)، magnesium (Mg)، sulfates (SO₄)، total hardness (TH)، and calcium) CA).The results of the laboratory analyses indicate that the pH value reached (8.3)، which does not conform to Iraqi water quality standards. This suggests the presence of alkaline substances، likely resulting from industrial activities. The second parameter that exceeded the permissible limit was turbidity، which reached (16) mg/L.However، the remaining variables were found to be within the acceptable Iraqi standards for drinking water in terms of their physical and chemical properties. Overall، the results indicate that the water of the Tigris River in Al-Sharqat District is generally suitable for drinking purposes according to the conducted water quality tests.