A. Marei

The process of water chlorination to the water contains a considerable amount of TOC can lead to the figuration of some π-products that are highly harmful to human health. Among all the chlorination π-products, trihalomethanes (THMs) is exhibit highly carcinogenic activity. This study tries to identify the main factors that play a critical role in the THM formation and control its mechanisms at different stages. (WHO) usually, measure free residual chlorine values at levels less than the recommended values. The concentrations of THMs formed in the water network vary depending on the concentration of TOC in the discharged spring water, and the chlorine dose plays an important role in this process by increasing the contact time. The THM levels in the tap water of Jericho and Aqbat Jabber camp are at levels below the USEPA limit of 80µg/L, as well as the WHO limit of 100 µg/L. CHBr 3 was found to be the major contributor to the total THMs. CHCl 3 found to be the dominant sort detected ...

One of the most important pollutants that may reach the groundwater through agricultural return flow combined with abuse and ignorance is pesticides. This study focuses on the examination of the concentration of three pesticides: Abamectin, Imidacloprid, and ß-Cyfluthrin, all of which have been used in large quantities in the Lower Jordan Valley (LJV) for the last three decades. Twenty five groundwater samples were collected from water boreholes where water is abstracted from two phreatic aquifer systems which are the Plio-Plistocene aquifer system in Jericho and Lower Al Jeftlik areas and the Eocene carbonate aquifer system in the Middle of Al Jeftlik. The depth of the boreholes in both aquifer system ranges between 80 and 120 m. Water samples were analyzed for Abamectin, Imidacloprid, and ß-Cyfluthrin using the HPLC-UV method. These samples represent two main agricultural locations (Jericho, and the Al Jeftlik). Of the 25 wells sampled, Abamectin was detected in 11 wells in concen...

... Detailed Analysis of Chemical and Physical Parameters 1. Iodine Value. ... Refractive index and Fourier transform infrared spectra of virgin coconut oil and virgin olive oil. Amer. Appl. ... Tables Table 1. Summary data for olive oil quality parameters of Bet-Dagan and Assera samples. ...

ABSTRACT Jericho Oases (-258 m b.s.l) is known through the history for its fertile soil, date trees, and sweet fruits. Groundwater is the only water sources for domestic and agricultural activities, where about 8 MCM/a discharge form three major springs groups, in addition to 20 MCM are taped from 45 shallow boreholes (10-180 m) in the Plio-Plistocene aquifer system. The current and future availability of groundwater of the shallow Plio-Plistocene aquifer system is the key factor for the economical development of agricultural sector, where during the last 10 years around 50 million USD are invested in this sector. Green houses agriculture, and date trees farming become the major groundwater consumers. From the hydrological point view, the study area is part of the eastern Wadi Al Quilt drainage system, where recharge take place along the mountain range in the western part of the catchment area. The shallow aquifer system consists of gravel; sand and silt inter fingering with clay layers. Chalk and chalky limestone formation of Senonian age separate the shallow aquifer from Mountain aquifer which consists of limestone, and dolomite. Both aquifer systems are part from the Eastern Basin where groundwater flows towards the Jordan River-Dead Sea basin. Direct recharge from rainfall to the shallow aquifer system is neglected due to the high evaporation rates, and only about 1 MCM/a of flooding water infiltrate into this aquifer. The hypotheses of this study is an indirect groundwater replenishment take places in certain sites along the N-S-major fault system, and groundwater flow through passages into the Plio-Plistocene aquifer systems. We tried to use pharmaceutical residuals to trace groundwater flow regimes in the Mountain and Plio-Plistocene aquifer system. Twenty eight water samples were collected during the hydrological year 2011 (in March and July) from 19 sampling sites (springs and boreholes). Few samples were collected from Al Bereh waste water treatment plant as well as from flooding water. The groundwater samples present the Mountain and the Shallow aquifer systems. The Pharmaceutical residuals were analyzed using the HPLC-ESI-MS-MS method. The result show that six pharmaceutical residuals were detected in groundwater samples from the two aquifer systems in addition to the waste water. These are Anti-Epileptic Carbamazepine, the lipid lowering agent Fenofibrate, and the X-ray contrast agents Diatrizoic acid, Iohexol, Iopromide and Iopamidol. Source of these compounds is waste water from Al Bereh Treatment plant and raw waste water from different communities. These compounds are found in springs water drain from the Mountain Aquifer as wells as in boreholes from the shallow aquifer system. The areal distribution of these compounds in groundwater extends about 4 km from wadi Al Quilt drainage system northwards to north of wadi Nueimah. The result of this study confirm the hypotheses that there is an indirect recharge from the Mountain aquifer into the shallow Plio-Plistocene aquifer system in Jericho area. It is expected that S-N- major fault system, and the 80 m thick Chalk-Chalky limestone of Senonian age does not act as barrier between the two groundwater systems. Key words: Jericho, Shallow Plio-Plistoces and Mountain aquifer systems, Pharmaceutical Residuals, indirect replenishments

The study is aims at tracing the carbon system using carbon isotopes in addition to rubidium and strontium to trace the different chemical changes and reactions in Jericho aquifer in the lower Jordan valley. The fault systems in the west seem to play a role also in the system water feeding. It seems that there is a fresh water leakage from the Lower Cretaceous formation through the fault that boarder the Cretaceous and Quaternary formations, from which the springs are totally fed with δ13C ~ 12 ‰. The rest of the wells and north shows a mixing of this freshwater with the infiltrated water that fed the Pleistocene aquifer through Wadis run off with the same δ13C signatures. The study shows also the effect of carbonate minerals forms inputs on the system, mainly the effect of different salts lichate inputs on the mineralization and dissociation activities. The typical isotopic signature of δ13C in the salt lichate water was found ~ -7% in the eastern wells group.

ABSTRACT This Study investigated the effect of metrological factors variations between eastern and western foothills on olive oil quality in northern West Bank. Samples were collected from two villages: Assera Al Shamalia (locates on Western foothills) and Bet Dagan (Locates on Eastern foothills). Differences in metrological factors and harvesting times between the two villages cause differences in olive oil quality and higher content of stigmastadiene in Bet Dagan than Assera olive oil. The higher monthly averages of minimum and maximum temperatures of Bet Dagan cause the increase of Stigmastadiene content of olive oil. While the higher amount of precipitation In Assera; cause higher quality and quantity of produced olive oil in Assera compared to Bet Dagan. The lower relative humidity and longer day hours; in Assera village enhances higher amounts of olive oil accumulation and better quality as this is the favorable conditions for olive oil formation. The compression between Cuba, Crete, Spain and Italy olive oil quality with Palestinian olive oil quality, we found that Palestinian olive oil shows good competition quality parameters for Acidity and Peroxide values according to the International olive oil council limits compared with these countries olive oil acidity and peroxide values.

Elimination of pathogens and emerging pollutants represents a key factor in integrated water resources management in arid regions. Within the SMART Jordan Valley project it is the objective of this study to assess the occurrence and examine the elimination of selected emerging pollutants and pathogens in waste water treatment and aquifer recharge. In batch and soil column studies non-chlorinated organophosphorous compounds (tri-n-butylphosphate, triphenylphosphate) and endocrine disruptors (e.g. 17-ß-estradiol, bisphenol A) proved to be biodegradable, while the X-ray contrast agents iomeprol and iopromide were eliminated in the soil columns only, and the chlorinated trialkylphosphates showed persistency. Treating waste water in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) in combination with powdered activated carbon (PAC) resulted in considerable removal rates also for the more persistent compounds such as the antiepileptic carbamazepine. Viruses were shown to be present in most of the Jordan Valle...

Salinization in coastal aquifers is a global phenomenon resulting from the overexploitation of scarce water resources. The Gaza Strip is one of the most severe cases of salinization, as accelerated degradation of the water quality endangers the present and future water supply for over 1 million people. We investigate the chemical and isotopic (87Sr/86Sr, δ11B, δ18O, δ2H, and δ34SSO4) compositions of groundwater from the southern Mediterranean coastal aquifer (Israel) and the Gaza Strip in order to elucidate the origin of salinity and boron contamination. The original salinity in the eastern part of the aquifer is derived from discharge of saline groundwater from the adjacent Avedat aquitard (Na/Cl < 1, 87Sr/86Sr ∼ 0.7079, and δ11B ∼ 40‰). As the groundwater flows to the central part of the aquifer, a dramatic change in its composition occurs (Na/Cl > 1, high B/Cl, SO4/Cl, and HCO3, 87Sr/86Sr ∼ 0.7083; δ11B ∼ 48‰), although the δ18O‐δ2H slope is identical to that of the Avedat ...

ABSTRACT Abstract Karst groundwater resources in semi-arid environments are highly vulnerable with respect to anthropogenic impacts, such as wastewater infiltration, because of focussed recharge and the rapid transport of dissolved substances in highly permeable conduit systems. In this study, groundwater resources of the western margin of the Lower Jordan Valley and their respective water qualities were investigated. The region is characterised by a carbonate aquifer system, which predominantly discharges via karst springs. The area experiences a large population growth and consequently a rising chloride concentration due to effluent infiltration is observed in many springs. Long-term records of chloride concentration in spring water were assembled in an extensive literature study. For some springs, larger parts of the period of 1938–2012 were covered. Chloride was used as an all-in-one environmental tracer for the objectives of (1) groundwater recharge estimation and (2) anthropogenic impact quantification. The investigations required the determination of the natural background concentration of chloride in groundwater. It was estimated by a combined use of historical data and a trend analysis for larger springs in the area and a range between 20 and 40 mg l−1 was found. Together with chloride concentration data for local precipitation, the long-term mean natural groundwater recharge was calculated with the chloride mass balance method. Recharge ranged between 25 and 50 percent of the precipitation. The proportion of wastewater-borne spring flow was quantified by a chloride end member mixing model. The springs exhibited a wastewater-borne flow fraction between 0 and 22 percent, calculated from recent samples. The successful application of these methods underlines the value of long-term monitoring, even at a comparatively low time resolution. Keywords Groundwater recharge; Natural background concentration; Chloride/bromide ratio; Karst; Monitoring; Jordan Valley

One of the major problems in the lower Jordan Valley is the increasing salinization (i.e., chloride content) of local ground water. The high levels of salinity limit the utilization of ground water for both domestic and agriculture applications. This joint collaborative study evaluates the sources and mechanisms for salinization in the Jericho area. We employ diagnostic geochemical fingerprinting methods to trace the potential sources of the salinity in (1) the deep confined subaquifer system (K2) of Lower Cenomanian age; (2) the upper subaquifer system (K1) of Upper Cenomanian and Turanian ages; and (3) the shallow aquifer system (Q) of Plio‐Pleistocene ages.The chemical composition of the saline ground water from the two Cenomanian subaquifers (K1 and K2) point to a single saline source with Na/CI ∼0.5 and Br/CI∼7 × 10−3. This composition is similar to that of thermal hypersaline springs that are found along the western shore of the Dead Sea (e.g., En Gedi thermal spring). We sugg...

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2011, 3, ** doi:10.4236/jwarp.2011.33024 Published Online 3 2011 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jwarp) Copyright © 2011 SciRes. JWARP Assessment of Artificial Recharge Test in Jeftlik – Faria Area, West Bank Marwan Ghanem1*, Amer Marei2, Heinz Hoetzl3, Leif Wolf3, Wasim Ali3, Amjad Assi1 1Palestinian Hydrology Group, Ramallah, Palestine 2Alquds University, Jerusalem, Plaestine 3Karlsruhe University, AGK, Karlsruhe, Germany E-mail: ghanemphg@yahoo.com Received December 31, 2010; January 26, 2011; February 27, 2011 Abstract An artificial recharge test site was selected in the Jeftlik area of the foot prints of the Faria basin, in the Upper Jordan Rift Valley. The artificial pond infiltration type of 26 meters diameter and 2.85 meters depth was used it is a hyperbolic form of 500 cubic meters volume. The integration parameters of hydrogeological settings, hydrochemical characteristics of allocated water bodies, geophysical investigations and the...

Increasing salinity of the groundwater is one of major challenges faced by agricultural sector in West Bank/Palestine. This study was carried out in the Lower Jordan Valley (LJV) under greenhouse field condition, where an area of 0.12 ha was irrigated with 3.5 dS/m magnetic treated water during the growing season 2012/2013. The results of this pilot project show that there are significant increases in the yield of red and yellow bell pepper of about 20% and 18% on fresh weight basis, respectively. Water use efficiency increased by 15% and an increase in shelf time of 7 d were also recorded. The chlorophyll content raised significantly in the leaves of treated plants compared to the controlled one by 2.5 mg/g. Bell pepper irrigated with magnetic water produces 37% more four champers than that of the controlled one. On the other hand, there were no clear significant effects on the height of the plant, number of fruits, distance between nods, size of fruits, number and thickness of wal...

The increase demand of water and the lack of resources in the West Bank had led to investigate the quality of water through radioactive elements. In our study Ra226 and Rn 222 had been measured before and after the mixing process. This study investigates that ...