Indexing methods and chemometric analysis of selected metals and metalloids for drinking water quality assessment in Upper Silesia region, Poland

The research focused on the determination of selected metals in tap water from Upper Silesia region (Poland) and the assessment of risk for consumers. The heavy metal pollution index and metal index were used to characterise the potential risk of heavy metals in drinking water. ICP-MS and ICP-OES have been used to measure the concentrations of Co, Mn, Cu, Ni, Pb, As, Zn and Sr. Chemometric analysis of the resulted data was accomplished using principal component analysis and cluster analysis, emphasising both similarities between the composition of the analysed samples and outliers. It was suggested that chemometric analysis can be used as a decision tool for necessary corrective action in the water distribution network, since it emphasises in a fast and intuitive way the samples with unusual chemical composition for a given context. To the best of our knowledge, such research in this area has not yet been carried out.