Nitrate,sulphate and chloride contents in public drinking water supplies in Sicily,Italy |
| |
Authors: | Walter D’Alessandro Sergio Bellomo Francesco Parello Pietro Bonfanti Lorenzo Brusca Manfredi Longo Roberto Maugeri |
| |
Institution: | 1.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia,Sezione di Palermo,Palermo,Italy;2.Dipartimento CFTA,Università di Palermo,Palermo,Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Water samples collected from public drinking water supplies in Sicily were analysed for electric conductivity and for their
chloride, sulphate and nitrate contents. The samples were collected as uniformly as possible from throughout the Sicilian
territory, with an average sampling density of about one sample for every 7,600 inhabitants. Chloride contents that ranged
from 5.53 to 1,302 mg/l were correlated strongly with electric conductivity, a parameter used as a proxy for water salinity.
The highest values are attributable to seawater contamination along the coasts of the island. High chloride and sulphate values
attributable to evaporitic rock dissolution were found in the central part of Sicily. The nitrate concentrations ranged from
0.05 to 296 mg/l, with 31 samples (4.7% of the total) exceeding the maximum admissible concentration of 50 mg/l. Anomalous
samples always came from areas of intensive agricultural usage, indicating a clear anthropogenic origin. The same parameters
were also measured in bottled water sold in Sicily, and they all were within the ranges for public drinking water supplies.
The calculated mean nitrate intake from consuming public water supplies (16.1 mg/l) did not differ significantly from that
of bottled water (15.2 mg/l). Although the quality of public water supplies needs to be improved by eliminating those that
do not comply with the current drinking water limits, at present it does not justify the high consumption of bottled water
(at least for nitrate contents). |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|