EVALUATION OF CONCENTRATIONS OF SOME HEAVY METALS IN WASTEWATER FROM AL-HAWIJA HOSPITAL AND THE EFFICIENCY OF YELLOW CORN PLANTS IN TREATING IT

Abstract

The current study was conducted in the Department of Life Sciences, College of Pure Sciences Education, University of Tikrit, during the years 2022-2023, to assess the quality and treatment of wastewater discharged from Al-Hawija General Hospital, located in Al-Hawija city, 60 km west of Kirkuk city, northern Iraq. The study included evaluating levels of some heavy metals in the hospital wastewater at four stations over five months, starting from November 2022 to March 2023. Additionally, the study involved the biological treatment of hospital wastewater by assessing the efficiency of yellow corn plants irrigated with this water in absorbing and accumulating heavy metals. Laboratory tests were conducted in the laboratories of the Department of Life Sciences, College of Pure Sciences Education, and the College of Engineering, University of Tikrit. The results were as follows: The pollution assessment results indicated that the agricultural role site and the month of November, and the interaction between them, recorded the highest concentrations for copper, iron, and cadmium. The concentrations of copper were 0.752, 0.571, and 0.924 parts per million (ppm) respectively, iron concentrations were 1.296, 1.109, and 1.485 ppm respectively, and cadmium concentrations were 0.143, 0.113, and 0.164 ppm respectively. As for lead, its highest concentrations were 0.346, 0.357, and 0.514 ppm at the hospital site, the month of November, and their interaction, respectively. For zinc, the highest values were recorded at the nursery site, the month of November, and the interaction between the agricultural role site and the month of November, reaching 1.450, 1.311, and 1.622 ppm respectively. The biological treatment results revealed that the second field of corn plants recorded the highest concentrations of iron, zinc, chromium, and lead, with values of 425, 27.8, 7.1, and 3.1 ppm respectively. This was followed by the fourth field of plants with concentrations of 425 and 1.5 ppm for iron and cadmium, while the third field of plants recorded the highest concentration of copper at 10.4 ppm