A geochemical analogy between the metal sources in Kuwait Bay and territorial sea water of Kuwait Chidambaram Sabarathinam & Harish Bhandary & Asim Al-Khalid Received: 17 July 2018 /Accepted: 8 January 2019 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 Abstract The sea water serves as a source for desalina- tion and shelter for dependent biota. To understand the sources of metal in Kuwait Bay and the open sea, samples were collected and analyzed for metals like B, Li, Sr, Hg, Pb, Ba, Fe, Zn, Mn, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Se, V, Al, Mo, and As. The comparison of Bay and Seawater shows that most of the metals were higher in sea water. Samples were collected in two different transects in the territorial sea water (TSW), the northern, and the south- ern transects. The heavy metal evaluation index and degree of contamination calculated for Bay and TSW show that they are contaminated, and the degree was higher in TSW. The variation of metal concentration along the transects in TSW reflects three different be- haviors; (1) few metals decrease from the shore, (2) few increases from the shore, and (3) others show no signif- icant trend. The statistical analysis of the data shows a representation of five factors for bay water and six for TSW indicating the complexity in sources of metal in TSW. The analysis infers the metal contamination due to petroleum products, and oxidation-reduction cycles are predominant in TSW. But, tidal influence along with dustfall plays a key role in the metal contamination of bay waters. Apart from these, desalination rejects and domestic sewage effluents are common sources contrib- uting metals to both the environment. It is also observed that the suspended sediments play a significant role in the leaching, adsorption, and distribution of metals. The extraneous process has a predominant control over the distribution of the metals in TSW than the Bay. Keywords Heavy metal evaluation index . Desalination . Domestic sewage . Dust fall . Pollution Introduction Heavy metals are natural constituents present in the marine water environments, and the oceans are a vital sink for many heavy metals. In general, most of the metals are present in trace concentrations, when in ex- cess affects the marine biological system and it poses a risk to consumers of sea food (Turner et al. 1996). Marine environment serves as a critical ecosystem shel- tering a huge biosphere. It also serves as the source of raw water for desalination, contributing 93% of the domestic and drinking water requirement of Kuwait (Darwisk and As-Nejen 2005). The metal contamination in seawater was reported earlier since 1998 (Bu-Olayan et al. 1998) along the coastline. Subsequent studies on metals in seawater along the Kuwait Bay and coastline reflected elevated levels of few metals like Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ni, and Co (Bu-Olayan et al. 2001a). The Arabian Gulf has been identified as the hotspot of the elevated metal levels due to the discharge of industrial effluents along the coastal regions (De Mora et al. 2004, 2010; Naser 2013). The studies on desalination plants and power generating industries were inferred as a point source of heavy metals in Kuwait Bay (Tarique 2012). Environ Monit Assess (2019) 191:142 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7219-4 C. Sabarathinam (*) : H. Bhandary : A. Al-Khalid Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait City, Kuwait e-mail: csabarathinam@kisr.edu.kw