Evaluation of Aluminum Levels in Drinking Water of Nouakchott

The drinking water of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, comes from the Senegal River. The current water treatment is done with aluminum sulfate. In order to monitor the aluminum content, from September 2015 to August 2016, three samples were taken monthly for each water source: pretreated water (from Beni Naji treatment station), treated water (from PK17 treatment station) and the water tower. The analysis results of the aluminum content of the treated water (full treatment) and pretreated water (first treatment) showed that the aluminum content of all samples was between 0.03 mg/L and 0.09 mg/L, with an average value of 0.07 mg/L. The World Health Organization stipulates that the normal content of aluminum between 0.1 mg/L and 0.2 mg/l. In the course of the study, the changes of aluminum content in samples from different places were observed. This change can be explained by coagulation-flocculation of aluminum sulfate. The aluminum content of the samples met the World Health Organization standards for drinking water.