Groundwater quality assessment using water quality index (WQI)‎ approach : Gaza coastal aquifer as a case study

Joint Authors

al-Astal, Khalil Mahmud
al-Agha, Jawad S.
Ababu, Rashid
Abu Habib, Azzam A.

Source

The fifth International Conference on Engineering and Sustainability : is scheduled on November 4-5, 2014

Publisher

Islamic University of Gaza Faculty of Engineering

Publication Date

2014-11-30

Country of Publication

Palestine (Gaza Strip)

No. of Pages

8

Main Subjects

Engineering & Technology Sciences (Multidisciplinary)

English Abstract

Water resources in arid and semi-arid regions, such as the case of Gaza Strip (GS), are generally under increasing stresses.

Therefore management of these valuable resources is one of the crucial concerns and challenges facing researchers and specialists worldwide.

In these areas, there is a pressing need to evaluate the water situation in terms of its quality using the available limited data.

Water quality index (WQI) helps managers and planners working in water sector to qualitatively maps water quality ; which in turn enabling them to propose the possible management options as well as sufficiently prioritizing the capital investment for water sector.

Being the only source of water for GS population of more than 1.8 million, Gaza coastal aquifer (GCA) is in a disastrous quality situation where it represents an extreme model on how unstable political environment, disastrous economic situation, decaying environmental conditions and unplanned human activities are combined together to further deteriorate the groundwater quality.

The objective of this paper was to assess and map the spatial distribution of groundwater quality of GCA using WQI approach.

Research results indicated that severe water quality deterioration occurred in GS, where area that is classified "not good" based on WQI jumped from about 30 % to 55 % of the overall GS area within 10 years (between 2000-2010).

The developed WQI maps assisted in forming a simple yet comprehensive view about the quality of groundwater in GS ; which in turn enables to setting management priorities, spotting critical locations in terms water quality, and supporting the decision making process in relation to drawing policies and proposing remediation measures to sustain and restore water resources .

Data Type

Conference Papers

Record ID

BIM-775125

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