Nitrate,Nitrite and Ammonia Contamination in Ground Water: A Case Study from Gümüþhacýköy Plain,Turkey

Abstract

Ground and surface water quality can be affected by three different forms of pollution, which are chemical, biological and physical pollution. These polluting factors can influence natural environment and human health. Nitrates in soil and ground water generally moves relatively slow and there is approximately 20 years lag time between the detection of the pollutant and the pollution activity in ground water. For that reason, it is assumed that nitrate concentration can continue to affect current polluting activities for several decades. In this study, groundwater pollution originated from agricultural activities were investigated in Gümüþhac;ýköy urban area. The concentrations of nitrate (NO $_3^-$ ) in groundwater of Gümüþhacýköy Plain range from 0–15.61 mg/l, nitrite (NO $_2^-$ ) 0–0.007 mg/l and ammonium (NH $_4^+$ ) 0–0.5 mg/l. However other chemical parameters such as pH, EC, TH, Ca $^{+2}$ , Mg $^{+2}$ , Na $^+$ , K $^+$ , HCO $_3^ -$ , Cl $^-$ , SO $_4^{-2}$ and F $^-$ were measured.