Effects of plumbing premise on the occurrences and variability of heavy metals in desalinated and blended tap water

Fayzul Kabir, Shakhawat Chowdhury*, Mohammad Abu Jafar Mazumder, Md Hasan Zahir, Khalid Alhooshani

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chronic exposure to heavy metals in tap water has been linked to various health effects. The regulatory agencies often monitor heavy metals in water treatment plant and water distribution system (WDS) while people are exposed to water from tap in house. Stagnation of water in plumbing pipes (PP) and hot water tanks (HWT) prior to reaching the tap is likely to increase the concentrations of few heavy metals, which may exceed the regulatory guidelines. In this study, occurrences and variability of 17 heavy metals in water were investigated in WDS, PP and HWT through a 7-month sampling program. The water samples were collected and analyzed for 7 times a day on bi-weekly basis. The concentrations of heavy metals in HWT were 1.2–8.1 and 1.4–6.7 times the concentrations in WDS and PP respectively. Among the priority pollutants, concentrations of As, Cr, Cu, Pb, Hg, Ni and Zn were in the increasing order of WDS, PP and HWT. Higher concentrations of heavy metals in PP and HWT increase metal concentrations in tap water, which can pose elevated risk to humans. The concentrations of several heavy metals were seasonally variable with higher values in summer. The findings highlight the limitations of current sampling locations for regulatory compliance, exposure analysis and risk control from heavy metals in tap water.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)257-271
Number of pages15
JournalDesalination and Water Treatment
Volume107
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Desalinated and blended water
  • Heavy metals
  • Plumbing premise
  • Water quality monitoring
  • Water stagnation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Water Science and Technology
  • Ocean Engineering
  • Pollution

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