ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Groundwater Quality of Türkmen Mountain,
Turkey
Cem Tokatli1, Esengül Köse2, Arzu Çiçek3
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1Department of Laboratory Technology, Ipsala Vocational School, Trakya University,
İpsala/Edirne, Turkey
2Department of Environmental Protection and Control, Osmangazi Vocational School,
Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey
3Applied Environmental Research Centre, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(4):1197-1208
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to determine the groundwater quality of Türkmen Mountain, which provides
drinking water to about 250,000 people, and to evaluate the water quality by using some multivariate statistical
techniques. In this study, groundwater samples were collected from 18 stations on Türkmen Mountain in
summer 2011. Some lymnological parameters and element levels in groundwater of the mountain were determined.
Factor analysis (FA), cluster analysis (CA), and Pearson Correlation Index were applied to the results
in order to estimate the data properly. The ArcGIS package program was used to make distribution maps of
arsenic, boron, and total phosphorus (which were detected as the most critical parameters of the mountain) in
order to provide visual summaries of element accumulations. Also, water samples were evaluated according
to the criteria of SKKY (water pollution control regulation in Turkey) and evaluated as drinking water according
to the criteria of TS266 (Turkish Standards Institute), the EC (European Communities), and WHO (World
Health Organization). It was determined that arsenic accumulations of some stations exceeded the limit values
specified by TS266, WHO, and the EC. Significant positive correlations were determined between arsenic
and boron levels (p<0.01), and according to the FA results, the “Boron Works Factor,” which was strongly positive
related to the variables of arsenic and boron, was identified as the most effective component for Türkmen
Mountain (25.88% of total variance). As a result, in addition to the geological structure of the mountain, mining
activities and mineral recovery processes are significant effective factors of groundwater quality of
Türkmen Mountain.