AN INVESTIGATION ABOUT HEAVY METAL POLLUTION OF DUDEN AND GOKSU STREAMS (ANTALYA, TURKEY)

The cities are also expanding with growth in construction rapidly, depending on the population growth. This development causes a lot of environmental problems. Pollution in water is one of the main problems and the aim of this paper is to evaluate water pollution in the study area. There are some statistical methods developed for the measurement and evaluation of water pollution; heavy metal pollution index (HPI) is one of them. Antalya is, one of the big cities in Turkey, also growing fast; population and settlement in this city are increasing quickly. That is why two streams, Duden and Goksu, are selected to measure the heavy metal pollution. The 24 water samples from Duden Stream and 18 water samples from Goksu Stream were taken systematically in June 2018 and were analyzed by using HPI. The heavy metals, from the highest value to the lowest one, were Sr > Fe > Al > Mn > As > Ni > Cu > Pb > Cr > Se in Duden Stream; and Sr > Fe > Al > Ni > As > Cu > Mn > Pb > Cr > Se in Goksu Stream. The Sr and Al values have exceeded the standard permissible values in both of the streams. The heavy metal pollution index (HPI) was used to evaluate the potential risk. Regarding quality the water samples have been classified as good and poor, generally. On the other hand, some water samples had heavy metal pollution above standards Especially, the water of D15 - D19 - D20 and G13 samples were determined as very poor according to the standards As a conclusion, the anthropogenic factors and urbanization may be the cause of the pollution. Living creatures that use water may have health problems and ecological equilibrium may be hampered in these stations. Groundwater may be contaminated in these areas. So, the urbanization needs to be done more carefully.