https://mma.vgtu.lt/index.php/JEELM <p>The Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management publishes original research about the environment with emphasis on sustainability.&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.vilniustech.lt/index.php/JEELM/about">More information ...</a></p> Vilnius Gediminas Technical University en-US Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 1648-6897 <p>Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.</p> <p>This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</p> https://mma.vgtu.lt/index.php/JEELM/article/view/21832 <p>This study, it has been attempted to investigate the heavy metals pollution in groundwater resources of Konaro area. Accordingly, eight representative groundwater samples from wells and qanat were collected in December 2017 from rural settlements commonly used for irrigation and drinking. Analysis of lead, zinc, iron, chromium, copper and nickel as heavy metals was conducted by the ICP-MS approach. The results of analyzes indicate that the concentration of heavy metals in the groundwater of the study area is lower than the permissible limit. Results of HEI, HPI, and Cd contamination indices show that 62.5% of samples in the Konaro area fall into the medium pollution group, and the rest of the samples fall into the low pollution group due to their heavy metals content. Studies show that all samples of groundwater in the Konaro area have low to moderate contamination and that the overall contamination rate is not dangerous. Correlations between heavy metals indicators demonstrate that HPI is strongly correlated with HEI and Cd also HEI with Cd. Therefore, it is evident that all of the indices are important and reliable to study the risk of heavy metals pollution in the Konaro ophiolitic area. Pollution evaluation indices and statistical analysis confirm that the low to medium level of heavy metals in Konaro groundwater samples is owing to the lack of acidity, poor agriculture and poor urbanization around the river and thus the lack of contamination of the aquifer.</p> Baseer Ahmad Barahouei Mohammad Reza Noura Mohammad Elyas Moslempour Rahim Dabiri Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-01-03 2025-01-03 33 1 1–12 1–12 10.3846/jeelm.2025.21832