QUALITY OF SOME SPRING WATERS IN ISTANBUL

Year 2011, Volume: 24 Issue: 2, 141 - 156, 23.10.2012

Deniz Key

Abstract

This article aims to determine the quality of spring waters in İstanbul and the convenience of these

waters to human consumption. In order to evaluate spring waters in İstanbul in terms of the water quality, firstly

labels of the bottled spring waters have been collected and studied, and general geological and environmental circumstances

of İstanbul have been determined. In the year of 2011, there exist 53 bottled spring water producers in

İstanbul. The indicator parameters on label informations of the bottled spring waters are compared with drinking

and spring water limit values of WHO (2006), EPA (2009), EU (1998), TSE (2005) and Yönetmelik (2005), and it

is seen that 22 of 53 spring waters exceed the limit values in terms of some parameters (Mn, Cl, SO4, pH, Fe, Al

and NH4). It is observed that 40 of the springs emerge from sedimentary rocks, 9 from metamorphic rocks and 4

from volcanic rocks. SO4 ion in spring waters in Çatalca emerging from metamorphic rocks, and Mn and Cl ions in

spring waters in Eyüp and Şile emerging from sedimentary rocks generally are over the limit values. Moreover, pH

value of some spring waters in Şile and Çatalca generally are under the limit values (<6,5). In addition, drainage

areas of these springs are mostly covered by forests, while 16 springs are close to urban areas. It is the sedimentary

rocks that spring waters in İstanbul where are mostly procured from and parameters which are over limit values are

determined mostly in these waters. Therefore, the geology of the drainage areas of Hisar Water in Kemerburgaz and

Kuvars Water in Maltepe whose aquifers are sedimentary rocks such as the Trakya and Aydos Formations have been

investigated and chemical evaluation of the waters are conducted. In these investigations, quantities of heavy metals

exceeding limit values and possibly having toxic effect have not been determined in the spring waters. However,

possible increase of Fe, Mn, Al ions from weathering zones of the sandstone and graywackes of Trakya Formation

in the drainage area of Hisar Water and possible increase of Fe ion from the limonite zones in fractures of the quartz

arenites of Aydos Formation in the drainage area of Kuvars Water depending upon seasonal variations should be

taken into consideration.

Keywords

İstanbul, Spring Water

References

• Yavuz, O. ve Yılmaz, Y., 2010, İstanbul Kuzeyi Volkanitlerinin Jeolojik, Petrografik ve Mineralojik Özellikleri, İtüdergisi/d, Mühendislik, Cilt:9, Sayı:3, s. 38-46.