Metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the drinking water of the Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada: a preliminary assessment of their source

Twenty-five drinking water samples collected from the household property an d from the Sydney Regional Municipality well bores and lakes were analyzed to evaluate the various inorganic parameters, level of concentrations of th e priority elements and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The pH of the maj ority of the water samples was below the guidelines adopted by Health and W elfare Canada (1996), although the drinking waters supplied by the Sydney R egional Municipality were within the guidelines. Only three water samples ( 13 and 14: Point Aconi area and 16. Port Morien fish plant) have elevated c oncentrations of various PAHs compared to the detection limit. Eight sample s have higher concentrations of manganese and two samples (number 7. Sydney Airport and number 1: RCMP Office; Reserve Mines) have higher concentratio ns of priority elements (especially lead) than the recommended guidelines ( > 0.05 mg/l). These priority elements and the PAHs in the drinking water sa mples may have originated from the leaching of the individual coal seams wi thin that part of the Sydney Basin. Other potential sources of these elemen ts and PAHs (Power Plant disposal, Sydney Tar Pond, metalliferous rocks, hy drocarbon reservoir rocks) are not located close enough to the sampling sit es of the water samples. Therefore, they are not considered the source of t hese elements and PAHs. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.