Spatial Distribution of Fluoride in Drinking Water in Dhamar City, Yemen

Abstract

The fact that groundwater is the only source of drinking water in Yemen mandates strict monitoring of its quality. The aim of this study was to measure the levels of fluoride in the groundwater resources of Dhamar city. Dhamar city is the capital of Dhamar governorate located in the central plateau of Yemen. For this purpose, fluoride content in the groundwater from 16 wells located around Dhamar city was measured. The results showed that 75% of the investigated wells contain fluoride at or below the permissible level set by the World Health Organization (0.5 – 1.5 mg/L), whereas 25% of the wells have relatively higher fluoride concentrations (1.59 – 184 mg/L). The high levels of fluoride have been attributed to the anthropogenic activities in the residential areas near the contaminated wells. Interestingly, some wells contain very low fluoride concentrations (0.30 – 0.50 mg/L).  Data were statistically treated using the principal component analysis (PCA) method to investigate any possible correlations between various factors. PCA shows a high correlation between well depth and its content of fluoride. On the other hand, health problems dominating in the study area necessitate further studies to investigate any correlation with imbalanced fluoride intake.