Risk Assessment of the Calcium in the Drinking Water Supplies in Babylon Governorate, Middle of Iraq

The study of the risk of harmful drinking water parameters is an important part of the toxicity due to the direct effect to human health in a variety of ages. In this study, the calcium concentration that increasing above the desirable values was investigated. Many studies show there are many adverse effects of concentrations of calcium in drinking water. These effects were documented in the region of Babylon governorate (the middle Euphrates at the middle of Iraq). The study attempts to determine the recent risk to adult and children of the calcium in the drinking water. For this purpose, four main water treatment plants (applied conventional treatment) along the River of Shutt Al-Hilla River were selected. To determine the calcium risk in the water for next time Monte Carlo (MC) simulation were applied to determine this risk with different percentiles 10,25,50,75 and 90 percentiles. From the results of the study, it was found there is an important risk of calcium in drinking water. The values of HQ (Hazard Quotient) of adult and child were ranged (1-3) for both recent and future estimating, which is above the standard values. Therefore suggested scenario for calcium removal was applied for water to decrease concentrations of calcium risk to the acceptable values. The suggested scenario includes the addition of a nanofiltration unit in each water treatment plant. The risk of the suggested recent scenario was determined which was within the acceptable range. To ensure the effectiveness of the scenario in the next time (MC) simulation were applied to determine the risk .The values of HQ were less than 1.The estimated values of the deterministic and probabilistic HQ have a value of about 10 % .These values were acceptable for diversity test using CV.