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Spatial-environmental Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Under Salinity Stress: An Integrated WQI, Removal Efficiency and ANN Approach in Basra, Iraq Cover

Spatial-environmental Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Under Salinity Stress: An Integrated WQI, Removal Efficiency and ANN Approach in Basra, Iraq

Civil and Environmental Engineering
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By: ,  ,   and    
Open Access
|Sep 2026
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

Figure 1:

Location map of Al-Baradiyah water treatment plant in Basra, southern Iraq

Figure 2:

Google Earth (2026). Satellite image of Al-Baradiyah Water treatment plant

Table 1:

Water quality classification based on WQI values

WQI level [-]Ratings of water quality
91–100Excellent
71–90Good
51–70Medium
26–50Bad
0–25Very bad
Table 1:

Relative weight of selected physicochemical parameters to determine the water quality index (WQI) in the effluent water of the Al-Baradiyah treatment plant

ParametersPermissible value (si) WHOIQS 417 (si) [mg/L]Observed values (ci)qi (ci/si)*100W(1/si)Wi = w/sumwSli=wi*qiExceeds IQS 417
TDS5005001906.203810.0020.012.10Yes
Turb554.0280.40.20.5544.36No
E.C10002786.542790.0010.000.77N/A
Ca20075*132.966.50.0050.010.92Yes
Mg15050*81540.00670.021.00Yes
TH500-670.21340.0020.010.74N/A
pH8.57.0–8.57.7910.11780.3229.57Within
Cl250200*620.52480.0040.012.74Yes
SO4250200*481.81930.0040.012.13Yes
Alk150-177.51180.020.066.51N/A
Sum-0.3625190.83

* IQS 417 format: Acceptable limit / Maximum allowable limit when no better source is available.

- = No guideline value specified in IQS 417 (ICOSQC, 2009). Exceeds IQS 417 column based on the acceptable limit. Ca and Mg mean values in treated water (132.9 and 81 mg/L) exceed IQS 417 acceptable limits (75 and 50 mg/L respectively) but remain within the maximum allowable limits.

Table 2:

Monthly Water Quality Index (WQI) values for treated water at Al-Baradiyah water treatment plant (2024–2025)

MonthWQI ValueClassificationSalinity period
Jan–202494.19ExcellentNormal
Feb–202498.26ExcellentNormal
Mar–2024108.72ExcellentNormal
Apr–202491.63ExcellentNormal
May–2024101.47ExcellentNormal
Jun–202486.43GoodModerate salinity
Jul–202468.31MediumModerate salinity
Aug–202481.37GoodModerate Salinity
Sep–2024105.92ExcellentModerate Salinity
Oct–2024103.36ExcellentModerate Salinity
Nov–2024106.18ExcellentModerate Salinity
Dec–2024104.37ExcellentModerate Salinity
Jan–2025104.16ExcellentNormal
Feb–202585.15GoodNormal
Mar–202597.43ExcellentNormal
Apr–202592.59ExcellentNormal
May–2025107.36ExcellentModerate Salinity
Jun–202558.66MediumHigh Salinity Intrusion
Jul–202596.08ExcellentHigh Salinity Intrusion
Aug–202565.07MediumHigh Salinity Intrusion
Sep–202561.02MediumHigh Salinity Intrusion
Oct–202568.01MediumHigh Salinity Intrusion
Nov–202581.89GoodNormal
Dec–202573.86GoodNormal
Table 3:

Descriptive statistics for raw water parameters

DescriptiveNMinimumMaximumMeanStd. deviationIQS 417 [mg/L]
Turb243.8314.98.33.585 / 25*
pH247.587.740.1457.0–8.5 / 6.5–9.2*
E.C243,3864825315316.9616647.70-
Alk24160200177.512.68-
TH2475262402134.901965.30-
Ca241521254429.8394.775 / 200*
Mg2491758258.8238.950 / 150*
Cl24675143004310.65093.1200 / 600*
SO42455360431936.101962.60200 / 400*
TSS24146039.7513.15-
TDS242,12232,0389947.811052.5500 / 1500*
K+246.21811.222.88-

* IQS 417 format: Acceptable limit / Maximum allowable limit when no better source is available (ICOSQC, 2009).

- = No guideline value specified in IQS 417 for this parameter; evaluation conducted against WHO (2017) guidelines only.

Table 4:

Descriptive statistics for treated water parameters

DescriptiveNMinimumMaximumMeanStd. deviationIQS 417 [mg/L]
Turb241.8454.021.195 / 25*
pH247.18.197.690.277.0–8.5 / 6.5–9.2*
E.C241,0226,0372,786.541,707.01-
Alk24160200177.512.68-
TH243521,072670.2229.9-
Ca2472216132.948.975 / 200*
Mg24421308128.650 / 150*
Cl241501,490620.5453.5200 / 600*
SO424183855481.8213200 / 400*
TSS24435229.7-
TDS243174,6461,906.201,247.30500 / 1500*
K+243.5136.812.33-

* IQS 417 format: Acceptable limit / Maximum allowable limit when no better source is available (ICOSQC, 2009).

- = No guideline value specified in IQS 417 for this parameter; evaluation conducted against WHO (2017) guidelines only.

Figure 3:

Monthly variation of turbidity in raw and treated water compared to WHO drinking water limits at Al-Baradiyah water project (2024–2025)

Figure 4:

Monthly variation of pH in raw and treated water compared with WHO drinking water limits at Al-Baradiyah Water Project (2024–2025)

Figure 5:

Monthly variation of (EC) in raw and treated water compared with WHO drinking water limits at Al-Baradiyah Water project (2024–2025)

Figure 6:

Monthly variation of (TDS) in raw and treated water compared with WHO drinking water limits at Al-Baradiyah water project (2024–2025)

Figure 7:

Monthly variation of (Alkalinity) in raw and treated water compared with WHO drinking water limits at Al-Baradiyah water project (2024–2025)

Figure 8:

Monthly variation in Total Hardness (TH) of raw and treated water compared with the WHO guideline limit at Al-Baradiyah water treatment plant (2024–2025)

Figure 9:

Monthly variation in calcium concentration in raw and treated water at Al-Baradiyah water treatment plant (2024–2025)

Figure 10:

Monthly variation in magnesium concentration in raw and treated water at Al-Baradiyah Water Treatment Plant (2024–2025)

Figure 11:

Monthly variation in chloride concentration of raw and treated water compared with the WHO guideline value at Al-Baradiyah water treatment plant (2024–2025)

Figure 12:

Monthly variation in sulphate concentration of raw and treated water compared with the WHO guideline value at Al-Baradiyah Water Treatment Plant (2024–2025)

Figure 13:

Monthly variation in potassium concentration of raw and treated water at Al-Baradiyah Water Treatment Plant during 2024–2025

Figure 14:

Monthly variation in Total Suspended Solids concentration of raw and treated water at Al-Baradiyah Water Treatment Plant during 2024–2025

Figure 15:

Mean removal efficiency (%) with minimum–maximum variation for selected water quality parameters at Al-Baradiyah Water Project

Figure 16:

Correlation matrix of the major salinity indicators in raw water at Al-Baradiyah water project during the 2024–2025 monitoring period

Table 5:

Spatial variation of major salinity-related parameters along the Shatt Al-Arab River, with percentage change relative to the upstream reference station (SH1), 2024

Impacted river reachesChlorides [mg/L]Sulphates [mg/L]Total hardness [mg/L]Total dissolved solids [mg/L]Increase/decrease in TDS concentration
SH1: Karma Ali River Monitoring Station, Shatt Al-Arab River1036.17427.5968.182750.83An advanced zone affecting the waters of the Shatt Al-Arab
SH2: Al-Maqal area1069.25441.67952.252771Increase by 0.73% compared with SH1
3.19%3.31%−1.65%0.73%
SH3: Al-Subiya area near the Saihan Water Project1119.5450890.52797Increase by 0.94% compared with SH2
8.04%5.27%−8.02%1.68%
SH4: Al-Faw area / Boat Marina6,3701,7504,99516,566Increase by 492.28% compared with SH3
514.76%309.36%415.92%502.22%
Figure 17:

Percentage increase of major salinity-related parameters along monitoring points (SH1–SH4) in the Shatt Al-Arab River

Figure 18:

Longitudinal spatial distribution of major salinity-related parameters along the Shatt Al-Arab River at selected monitoring points in Basra, Iraq (2024): chloride, sulphate, total hardness, and total dissolved solids

Figure 19:

Architecture of the developed artificial neural network (ANN) model used for turbidity prediction

Figure 20:

Comparison between predicted and observed turbidity values for the ANN validation dataset

Figure 21:

Relative importance of the selected input variables in ANN-based turbidity prediction

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cee-2027-0017 | Journal eISSN: 2199-6512 (formerly 1336-5835) | Journal ISSN: 1336-5835
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Language: English
Submitted on: Apr 2, 2026
Accepted on: Apr 28, 2026
Published on: Sep 16, 2026
Published by: University of Žilina
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
Water Quality Index (WQI),
Artificial Neural Network (ANN),
Removal Efficiency (RE),
Salinity intrusion,
Drinking water treatment,
Shatt Al-Arab River,
Basra,
Hadrochemical stress,
Environmental planning,
Turbidity prediction
Related subjects:
Business and economics,
Business management,
Industries,
Environmental management

© 2026 Hala Ali Meer Hussein, Shmoos A. Jabbar, Said Jassim Alsaady, Hussein J. Khadim, published by University of Žilina
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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