Using multivariate statistical analyses to evaluate groundwater contamination in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Using multivariate statistical analyses to evaluate groundwater contamination in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia Taisser Zumlot • Awni Batayneh • Yousef Nazal • Habes Ghrefat • Saad Mogren • Haider Zaman • Eslam Elawadi • Abdalaziz Laboun • Saleh Qaisy
Received: 23 July 2012 / Accepted: 5 March 2013 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Abstract Chemical characteristics of groundwater in the Midyan Basin (northwestern Saudi Arabia) were investigated and evaluated. A total of 72 water samples were collected from existing shallow wells and analyzed for different elements. Two multivariate statistical methods, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA), were applied to a subgroup of the data set in terms of their usefulness for groundwater classification, and to identify the processes controlling groundwater geochemistry. The subgroup consisted of 46 water samples out of 72 samples and 24 variables included major elements (Ca2?, Na?, Mg2?, K?, Cl-, HCO3-, NO3-, SO42-), minor and trace element (SiO2, Al, As, B, Ba, Cd, Cr, F, Fe, Mo, P, Pb, Sb, Sn, Ti, and V). For water samples, four geochemically distinct clusters (i.e., C1, C2, C3 and C4) have been observed by hierarchical cluster analysis. Cr, F and Pb are the dominant ions in cluster C2. Al, As, Cd, Mo, Sb and Ti are the dominant ions in cluster C3, while B, Ca, Cl, HCO3, K, Mg, Na, SO4 and V are identified as dominant ions in the cluster C4. In the PCA, a total of five components are extracted form the data set, which explained 73.37 % of the total data variability. Among them the first component reveals strong associations between As, B, Cd, Cr, F, Mo, Pb, Sb and Ti. The second component reveals the associations between Ca, Cl, HCO3, Mg, Na, SO4 and V.
T. Zumlot (&) A. Batayneh Y. Nazal H. Ghrefat S. Mogren E. Elawadi A. Laboun S. Qaisy Department of Geology and Geophysics, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] H. Zaman Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, PO Box 30002, Madinah 41477, Saudi Arabia
Keywords Hydrochemistry Multivariate analysis Principal components analysis Midyan Basin Saudi Arabia
Introduction The groundwater chemistry is prone to continuous modifications in any given hydrogeochemical environment. Ionic contents of the groundwater depend on the accompanying aquifer materials; hence, it is imperative to study and understand the hydrochemical characteristics of aquifers in different seasons and geological terrains (Reddy et al. 2012). Groundwater is an important water resource for domestic, agriculture and industrial uses in the arid country like Saudi Arabia. Rapidly depleting groundwater aquifers as a consequence of high population growth and rapid industrialization are threatening the quality of water resources in Saudi Arabia. To evaluate the suitability of groundwater for different uses, understanding the chemical composition of these vital resources is essential. It is possible to i
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