Abstract:
Water is one of the most important compounds of the ecosystem, and all living organisms on the
Earth need water for their survival and growth. However, this precious ecosystem is under
pollution pressure from various human activities caused by contaminant including trace heavy
metals. The aim of this study was to determining the selected heavy metals levels and physic -
chemical parameters of groundwater drinking sources in the rural villages of Hidabu Abote
district, North Showa, Oromia, Ethiopia. Physicochemical parameters of the ground drinking
water sources were analyzed using standard classical methods and their spatial variations were
presented and discussed. For heavy metals analysis the water samples were digested using wet
acid digestion technique and the quantification of the metals were made with flame atomic
absorption spectroscopic technique. The mean results of the Physico-chemical analysis were in
the range 12.3 -31.17 °C, 40 - 126.67mg/L, 0.04 - 3.02NTU,6.12 - 6.59, 52.67 – 154μs/cm,
29.33 - 70.67mg/L, 44 - 90.67 mg/L, 3.00 - 7.17mg/L, 0.25 - 0.77mg/L, 0.05 - 0.11mg/L, 4.41 -
29.09mg/L, 0.015- 0.018 mg/L for temperature, TDS, turbidity, pH, EC, total hardness, total
alkalinity, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, sulphate and nitrite, respectively. Out of the selected
nine heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cd and Pb) only Fe, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Mn were
detected in all ground water samples. The measured mean concentration (mg/L) values of the
metals in water were in the range of 0.084 - 0.147, 0.05- 0.094, 0.028 - 0.05, 0.003- 0.006, 0.009
- 0.027, and 0.22 - 0.056 for Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Mn and Ni, respectively. These results were
compared with water quality standards from the World Health Organization (WHO) and found
that the values of the measured Physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals were within the
permissible ranges specified by the WHO
