A Comparative Study of Physicochemical Properties of Water of Gaber-Oun, Umm al-Maa and Mafo lakes of Libya

The quality of Lakes water depends on various chemical constituents and their concentration, which are mostly derived from the geological data of the particular region Therefore, in the present investigation we have assessed and compared the physicochemical parameters like pH, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total alkalinity (TA), total hardness (TH), Na+, K+, Cl- of water of three Libyan lakes namely Umm al-Maa, Gaber-Oun and Mafo lakes. by using standard analytical methods. Data analysis of the results of lakes water samples were characterized by high alkaline pH, high values of total alkalinity and total suspended matter, in addition to the high amounts of sodium (Na), potassium (K) and chloride (Cl) ions and total hardness, comparatively much higher than International Standards. The results were analysed and compared with Libyan Standard No.82 and WHO Water Quality Guidelines. The results revealed that the unexpected high values of physicochemical parameters of lakes water may be attributed firstly due to extreme dry climate, and high temperature causing high rate of evaporation of surface water and secondly, weathering of rocks and leaching of soil of particular hydro-geochemical region which leads to the accumulation of salts to high concentrations.