Assessment of
Assessment of Different Water supplies in Jeddah as an indicator to water quality and their impact on seed germination
Batoul Mohamed Abdullatif and Areej Ali Baeshen
Department of Biological Sciences, Girls' Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Abstract: In this study, five water supplies in Jeddah city –Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), viz, Mineral water, Bottled water, Tap water, Zamzam water and Distilled water (as control) were investigated on germination and early seedling vigor of Phaseolous vulgaris and lentil (Lens culinaris) plants. Physico-chemical parameters in terms of heavy metals, EC and pH, were analyzed in water and plants in addition to some growth parameters of the plants. Results elucidated that, bottled water, which represents the main drinking water in Jeddah, showed similar results of elements to control (distilled water), followed by mineral water, Zamzam water and tap water. All water types were acidic except tap water and Zamzam water which were alkaline and they showed high electric conductivity(Ec) compared to control (P>0.01). The results showed that lentil plants watered with Zamzam water showed a pronounced increase in root fresh weight, while the high shoot weight was achieved with mineral water. On the other hand, plants watered with bottled water have high seeds dry weights in both plants. Phaseolous vulgaris plants watered with bottled water showed good growth parameters compared to the correspondence water types. Both plants accumulated the heavy element Ni in the same pattern (mineral water > bottled water > Zamzam water > tap water). However, from the present study, all water types in Jeddah seem to be safe for growing crop plants.
[Batoul Mohamed Abdullatif and Areej Ali Baeshen. Assessment of Different Water supplies in Jeddah as an indicator to water quality and their impact on seed germination Life Sci J 2013; 10(1):1550-1555] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 8
Keywords: water supplies, water quality, heavy elements, Mineral water, Tap water, Bottled water, Zamzam water, Distilled water, seed germination.
