Spatial distribution of fluoride in groundwater resources in selected parts of Kurdistan province, Iran, using GIS

Fluoride in drinking water has a profound effect on teeth. Since drinking water is an important fluoride source, the evaluation of the fluoride content in water resources is necessary. Temporal variations and spatial distribution of the drinking water fluoride in some selected parts of Kurdistan province, Iran have been studied using geographical information system (GIS) techniques. Forty villages were selected and 80 samples taken in two wet and dry seasons in 2013. Fluoride concentration was measured via Ion Chromatography (IC) method. Geospatial analysis of the data was done using the ArcGIS software developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). The results showed that the average fluoride concentration in drinking water ranged from 0.096 to 1.102 mg/L with the concentration being less than 0.50 mg F/L in 57 samples (71.25%), between 0.51 and 1.0 mg F/L in 21 samples (26.25 %), and greater than 1.0 mg F/l in 2 samples (2.5%). No difference was present between the concentrations of fluoride in the two-stage sampling with the nonparametric Wilcoxon test (p>0.01).

کلیدواژه ها:

Kurdistan ، Iran ، Fluoride ، Spatial distribution