IS RAW SPRING WATER SAFE FOR DRINKING? A CASE STUDY FOR SPRING WATER QUALITY IN JORDAN

Spring water is considered as the purest form of water on earth. Springs are spread in several regions in Jordan, which serves as sources for drinking, by localized people for many years. Although, scarcity of water is one of the major problems in Jordan, no governmental control from the associated authorities has existed on springs. So, detailed investigations for the quality of that water were conducted. Gross alpha and beta activity concentrations were determined by using the Liquid Scintillation Counter, whereas, the concentrations of 13 elements (Ag, Ba, Bi, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, U, and V) were determined by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy. The activity concentrations of gross alpha and beta were <0.045-0.769, and 0.270-3.758 Bq L-1, respectively. Besides, the concentrations of Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, U, and V in spring water samples were 24.436-57.698, 1.724-4.948, 0.867-2.353, 110.810-379.915, 0.611-1.774, 1.481-2.811, <0.012-0.035, 0.518-1.644, 0.945-3.364, and 3.307-23.016 mu g L-1, respectively. The results showed that all spring waters are safe for drinking except at Jerash, which may pose a threat to consumers. Due to the lack of studies about springs in Jordan, this study could be valuable for future works.