Lead Concentration in Drinking Water Resources of Golestan province and Providing Qualitative Model in Geographical Information System (GIS) Environment

The entrance of heavy metals such as lead into drinking water resources from several ways results in various health hazards such as poisoning and carcinogenicity among living organisms. This study aimed to determine the concentration of lead in Golestan province drinking water resources and to compare it with national and international standards.
This descriptive-analytic study was conducted, in 2013, on 64 samples of groundwater resources in Golestan province. The Concentration of lead in each sample was measured using atomic absorption spectrometry. After preparing the scattering layer of 64 wells, the geostatistical study was performed. To provide Kriging map and spherical five-dimensional model, basemaps using AutoCAD ArcGIS were applied. Gathered data were analysed using SPSS18.
Findings: The results showed that the concentration of lead for all of the samples was less than both WHO and national standard of Iran. The concentration of lead increased in line with increasing the depth of the wells. Furthermore, the highest and the lowest lead level were related to salty lands and forests, respectively.
while the concentration of lead in Golestan province drinking water resources has no hazard for consumers, it is recommended that a periodic monitoring be performed to detect the increase of lead due to the shortage of drinking water resources.