The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture started the agricultural investment in some free settlements in Gaza strip since 2008. The proposed areas to be planted and the proposed crops were chosen randomly without any r...The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture started the agricultural investment in some free settlements in Gaza strip since 2008. The proposed areas to be planted and the proposed crops were chosen randomly without any researches to study the expected adverse impacts of these agricultural projects on the environmental components. This research aimed at the groundwater aquifer in the proposed region physically and chemically by taking five water samples from water wells in the place. Represented groundwater samples taken from observation wells in the study area were tested in term of total dissolved solids (TDS), electric conductivity (EC), and (N-P-K) concentrations to be compared with the regulated groundwater standards. As a result of testing two fertilizers, it is found that the announced concentrations of (N-P-K) don’t match the real results. The real results are less than the announced concentrations, especially for the phosphorus concentration which had a real result about half of the announced concentration for both fertilizers. Although the real concentrations of (N-P-K) in the used fertilizers are less the announced concentrations, slightly pollution is found in the groundwater aquifer. The groundwater testing results in five observation wells showed that the groundwater tends to be basic, high salinity ranged between 550 and 3500 μS/cm, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) results ranged between 330 and 2300. Nitrate results ranged between 65 and 160 ppm, whereas phosphorus and potassium results showed that all groundwater samples met the standards and didn’t exceed them.展开更多
The main source of water in Gaza Strip is the shallow coastal aquifer. It is extremely deteriorated in terms of salinity which influenced by many variables. Studying the relation between these variables and salinity i...The main source of water in Gaza Strip is the shallow coastal aquifer. It is extremely deteriorated in terms of salinity which influenced by many variables. Studying the relation between these variables and salinity is often a complex and nonlinear process, making it suitable to model by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Initially, it is assumed that the salinity (represented by chloride concentration, mg/l) may be affected by some variables as: recharge rate, abstraction, abstraction average rate, life time and aquifer thickness. Data were extracted from 56 municipal wells, covering the area of Gaza Strip. After a number of modeling trials, the best neural network was determined to be Multilayer Perceptron network (MLP) with four layers: an input layer of 6 neurons, first hidden layer with 10 neurons, second hidden layer with 7 neurons and the output layer with 1 neuron which gives the final chloride concentration. The ANN model generated very good results depending on the high correlation between the observed and simulated values of chloride concentration. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9848. The high value of (r) showed that the simulated chloride concentration values using the ANN model were in very good agreement with the observed chloride concentration which mean that ANN model is useful and applicable for groundwater salinity modeling. ANN model was successfully utilized as analytical tool to study influence of the input variables on chloride concentration. It proved that chloride concentration in groundwater is reduced by decreasing abstraction, abstraction average rate and life time. Furthermore, it is reduced by increasing recharge rate and aquifer thickness.展开更多
Groundwater is the only source of fresh water in Gaza Strip while its inhabitants and its water consumption increased rapidly. This study aims at preserving and protecting the groundwater from any pollutants caused by...Groundwater is the only source of fresh water in Gaza Strip while its inhabitants and its water consumption increased rapidly. This study aims at preserving and protecting the groundwater from any pollutants caused by 141 industrial installations through the work of delineation of Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPA) for 47 Municipal Supply Wells in Gaza Governorate boundaries. WHPA has been determined in three different methods: Calculated Fixed-Radius Method (CFR), Analytical Method (AM), and Wellhead Analytic Ele-ment Model (WhAEM2000) which is currently used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These methods mainly depend on the time it takes groundwater to travel a specified horizontal dis-tance. Three well zones were delineated for each municipal production well, the first zone is 50 days time of travel (TOT), the second zone is 2 years TOT and the third zone is 5 years TOT. Different values of the ra-dius of WHPA of each well were obtained using the three methods. Consequently, several industrial installa-tions were laid inside the WHPA according to the radius values. The results show that CFR method is the weakest method because it does not take into account regional groundwater flow, causing a hydraulic gradi-ent. WHPAs identified by these methods may be either too large or too small, resulting in wellhead overpro-tection or under protection. Analytical Method incorporates hydrogeologic characteristics of the aquifer, groundwater flow, and hydrogeologic boundaries into the model. Often produces a WHPA that is smaller than the one produced using CRF. WhAEM2000 method is the best method because it uses a hydrogeologi-cal computer model of groundwater flow and it provides a more accurate delineation of the WHPA. It often produces a smaller area to manage than other methods. The study concluded that all industrial installations located in the WHPA should be carefully checked and investigated by governmental authorities. Mitigation measures for pollutants and licenses for the establishment of any new industrial installations could be based on the delineation of WHPAs using the previously mentioned methods.展开更多
Groundwater crisis in Gaza includes two major folds: shortage of water supply and contamination. The groundwater pollution by nitrates increased rapidly as a result of wastewater leakage, sewage sludge, animal manure ...Groundwater crisis in Gaza includes two major folds: shortage of water supply and contamination. The groundwater pollution by nitrates increased rapidly as a result of wastewater leakage, sewage sludge, animal manure and N-fertilizers. The aims of this study are to obtain the impacts of implementing the Gaza Emergency Technical Assistance Programme (GETAP) on the nitrate concentration in groundwater in Gaza Strip using modeling approach. A flow and transport model using a three dimensional, finite difference simulation model (VMODFLOW Pro.) was applied to simulate the Gaza coastal aquifer (GCA). The approach for selecting the management scenarios was carried out depending on the GETAP projects and focuses into the aquifer system during the next 24 years. It was estimated that work as usual scenario will raise the average nitrate concentration by 8.15 mg/l annually, while upgrade and maintain pipe work scenario will reduce the rising of average nitrate concentration by 4.51 mg/l annually. This means that the average nitrate concentration will increase by only 3.63 mg/l annually. Also, it was estimated that scenarios imported water from Israel, construction of short term low volume desalination plant (STLV), Construction of two regional desalination plant and Reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer will annually increase the average nitrate concentration by only (4.67, 2.78, 3.87, 2.15) mg/l, respectively. The results show that applying all the scenarios together will decrease the average nitrate concentration by 2.44 mg/l annually. Regionally, the best scenario to solve the increasing of nitrate concentration problem is a combination of those scenarios. In domestic areas, the best scenarios is STLV and upgrading and maintaining pipe work. In Agriculture areas, the best scenario and the only one that has significant effect is the reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer.展开更多
Brine salty water that is produced from Reverse Osmosis desalination plants usually has very large quantity and contains much higher salts ratio than that found in the sea. The disposal of such brine water has risks o...Brine salty water that is produced from Reverse Osmosis desalination plants usually has very large quantity and contains much higher salts ratio than that found in the sea. The disposal of such brine water has risks on environment. The objective of the research is to investigate the best brine disposal option in Gaza Strip. Five options for the disposal of brine were studied: 1) disposal of brine to the sea;2) discharge of brine to wastewater plant;3) deep well injection;4) evaporation pond and 5) land irrigation. The new desalination plant Short-Term Low Volume (STLV) of a capacity of 6000 m3/d was used as a case study. Initially, the cost for each option was calculated separately, where it was found that the least cost is to pump the brine to the sea without affecting the seawater and marine life. To support this decision, two methods were used to reach the optimal option for the disposal of brine: Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In MCA the measurement includes: economic, environmental, technical, political and social aspects, depending on a group of academics and experts in that field to fill in the questionnaire, which is a part of the analysis. As a result of that, the highest percentage among other options goes to pump the brine directly to the sea. On the other hand, the second method, which is Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), used the method of matrices among the different options and linked it with the standards that have been selected in the first method (MCDA). AHP method indicated also the best disposal of brine by pumping the brine to the sea.展开更多
Short-Term Low Volume (STLV) Sea Water Desalination Plant of 6000 m<sup>3</sup>/d is under construction in the middle area of Gaza Strip. The plant will provide desalinated water for 75,000 inhabitants in ...Short-Term Low Volume (STLV) Sea Water Desalination Plant of 6000 m<sup>3</sup>/d is under construction in the middle area of Gaza Strip. The plant will provide desalinated water for 75,000 inhabitants in regions in Khanyounis and Rafah. The intake of desalination plant will be indirectly from four beach wells. This article aims at providing the environmental impacts of these wells on the aquifer and the mitigation measures in case of negative impacts. In order to study the impacts of beach wells on the aquifer, a prediction groundwater three-dimensional model for the beach wells area, starting from the year 2000 until year 2030, was used. MODFLOW software was used for modeling the groundwater flow and SEAWAT software was used to model the seawater intrusion effect. The aquifer parameters were set as if they were in the transient model. The long term seasonal recharge rate for the summer and winter is considered to represent the seasonal differences in recharge through each year. The study showed that the steady four-meter drawdown in the beach wells will force the flow from the eastern direction to the sea. This will have positive impacts on the aquifer since it will decrease the seawater intrusion to the aquifer. The beach wells will pump water with Cl concentration equal to 18,000 mg/l. This means that the beach wells will accelerate the flow from the aquifer to the sea direction but still the pumped water is considered as seawater. This indicates the positive impacts on the groundwater aquifer since it will decrease the seawater intrusion in the beach wells area (Gaza Strip Middle area). In conclusion, these beach wells in this desalination plant (small capacity) are safe for the groundwater aquifer and it will decrease the effect of seawater intrusion on the aquifer.展开更多
文摘The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture started the agricultural investment in some free settlements in Gaza strip since 2008. The proposed areas to be planted and the proposed crops were chosen randomly without any researches to study the expected adverse impacts of these agricultural projects on the environmental components. This research aimed at the groundwater aquifer in the proposed region physically and chemically by taking five water samples from water wells in the place. Represented groundwater samples taken from observation wells in the study area were tested in term of total dissolved solids (TDS), electric conductivity (EC), and (N-P-K) concentrations to be compared with the regulated groundwater standards. As a result of testing two fertilizers, it is found that the announced concentrations of (N-P-K) don’t match the real results. The real results are less than the announced concentrations, especially for the phosphorus concentration which had a real result about half of the announced concentration for both fertilizers. Although the real concentrations of (N-P-K) in the used fertilizers are less the announced concentrations, slightly pollution is found in the groundwater aquifer. The groundwater testing results in five observation wells showed that the groundwater tends to be basic, high salinity ranged between 550 and 3500 μS/cm, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) results ranged between 330 and 2300. Nitrate results ranged between 65 and 160 ppm, whereas phosphorus and potassium results showed that all groundwater samples met the standards and didn’t exceed them.
文摘The main source of water in Gaza Strip is the shallow coastal aquifer. It is extremely deteriorated in terms of salinity which influenced by many variables. Studying the relation between these variables and salinity is often a complex and nonlinear process, making it suitable to model by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Initially, it is assumed that the salinity (represented by chloride concentration, mg/l) may be affected by some variables as: recharge rate, abstraction, abstraction average rate, life time and aquifer thickness. Data were extracted from 56 municipal wells, covering the area of Gaza Strip. After a number of modeling trials, the best neural network was determined to be Multilayer Perceptron network (MLP) with four layers: an input layer of 6 neurons, first hidden layer with 10 neurons, second hidden layer with 7 neurons and the output layer with 1 neuron which gives the final chloride concentration. The ANN model generated very good results depending on the high correlation between the observed and simulated values of chloride concentration. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9848. The high value of (r) showed that the simulated chloride concentration values using the ANN model were in very good agreement with the observed chloride concentration which mean that ANN model is useful and applicable for groundwater salinity modeling. ANN model was successfully utilized as analytical tool to study influence of the input variables on chloride concentration. It proved that chloride concentration in groundwater is reduced by decreasing abstraction, abstraction average rate and life time. Furthermore, it is reduced by increasing recharge rate and aquifer thickness.
文摘Groundwater is the only source of fresh water in Gaza Strip while its inhabitants and its water consumption increased rapidly. This study aims at preserving and protecting the groundwater from any pollutants caused by 141 industrial installations through the work of delineation of Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPA) for 47 Municipal Supply Wells in Gaza Governorate boundaries. WHPA has been determined in three different methods: Calculated Fixed-Radius Method (CFR), Analytical Method (AM), and Wellhead Analytic Ele-ment Model (WhAEM2000) which is currently used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These methods mainly depend on the time it takes groundwater to travel a specified horizontal dis-tance. Three well zones were delineated for each municipal production well, the first zone is 50 days time of travel (TOT), the second zone is 2 years TOT and the third zone is 5 years TOT. Different values of the ra-dius of WHPA of each well were obtained using the three methods. Consequently, several industrial installa-tions were laid inside the WHPA according to the radius values. The results show that CFR method is the weakest method because it does not take into account regional groundwater flow, causing a hydraulic gradi-ent. WHPAs identified by these methods may be either too large or too small, resulting in wellhead overpro-tection or under protection. Analytical Method incorporates hydrogeologic characteristics of the aquifer, groundwater flow, and hydrogeologic boundaries into the model. Often produces a WHPA that is smaller than the one produced using CRF. WhAEM2000 method is the best method because it uses a hydrogeologi-cal computer model of groundwater flow and it provides a more accurate delineation of the WHPA. It often produces a smaller area to manage than other methods. The study concluded that all industrial installations located in the WHPA should be carefully checked and investigated by governmental authorities. Mitigation measures for pollutants and licenses for the establishment of any new industrial installations could be based on the delineation of WHPAs using the previously mentioned methods.
文摘Groundwater crisis in Gaza includes two major folds: shortage of water supply and contamination. The groundwater pollution by nitrates increased rapidly as a result of wastewater leakage, sewage sludge, animal manure and N-fertilizers. The aims of this study are to obtain the impacts of implementing the Gaza Emergency Technical Assistance Programme (GETAP) on the nitrate concentration in groundwater in Gaza Strip using modeling approach. A flow and transport model using a three dimensional, finite difference simulation model (VMODFLOW Pro.) was applied to simulate the Gaza coastal aquifer (GCA). The approach for selecting the management scenarios was carried out depending on the GETAP projects and focuses into the aquifer system during the next 24 years. It was estimated that work as usual scenario will raise the average nitrate concentration by 8.15 mg/l annually, while upgrade and maintain pipe work scenario will reduce the rising of average nitrate concentration by 4.51 mg/l annually. This means that the average nitrate concentration will increase by only 3.63 mg/l annually. Also, it was estimated that scenarios imported water from Israel, construction of short term low volume desalination plant (STLV), Construction of two regional desalination plant and Reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer will annually increase the average nitrate concentration by only (4.67, 2.78, 3.87, 2.15) mg/l, respectively. The results show that applying all the scenarios together will decrease the average nitrate concentration by 2.44 mg/l annually. Regionally, the best scenario to solve the increasing of nitrate concentration problem is a combination of those scenarios. In domestic areas, the best scenarios is STLV and upgrading and maintaining pipe work. In Agriculture areas, the best scenario and the only one that has significant effect is the reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer.
文摘Brine salty water that is produced from Reverse Osmosis desalination plants usually has very large quantity and contains much higher salts ratio than that found in the sea. The disposal of such brine water has risks on environment. The objective of the research is to investigate the best brine disposal option in Gaza Strip. Five options for the disposal of brine were studied: 1) disposal of brine to the sea;2) discharge of brine to wastewater plant;3) deep well injection;4) evaporation pond and 5) land irrigation. The new desalination plant Short-Term Low Volume (STLV) of a capacity of 6000 m3/d was used as a case study. Initially, the cost for each option was calculated separately, where it was found that the least cost is to pump the brine to the sea without affecting the seawater and marine life. To support this decision, two methods were used to reach the optimal option for the disposal of brine: Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In MCA the measurement includes: economic, environmental, technical, political and social aspects, depending on a group of academics and experts in that field to fill in the questionnaire, which is a part of the analysis. As a result of that, the highest percentage among other options goes to pump the brine directly to the sea. On the other hand, the second method, which is Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), used the method of matrices among the different options and linked it with the standards that have been selected in the first method (MCDA). AHP method indicated also the best disposal of brine by pumping the brine to the sea.
文摘Short-Term Low Volume (STLV) Sea Water Desalination Plant of 6000 m<sup>3</sup>/d is under construction in the middle area of Gaza Strip. The plant will provide desalinated water for 75,000 inhabitants in regions in Khanyounis and Rafah. The intake of desalination plant will be indirectly from four beach wells. This article aims at providing the environmental impacts of these wells on the aquifer and the mitigation measures in case of negative impacts. In order to study the impacts of beach wells on the aquifer, a prediction groundwater three-dimensional model for the beach wells area, starting from the year 2000 until year 2030, was used. MODFLOW software was used for modeling the groundwater flow and SEAWAT software was used to model the seawater intrusion effect. The aquifer parameters were set as if they were in the transient model. The long term seasonal recharge rate for the summer and winter is considered to represent the seasonal differences in recharge through each year. The study showed that the steady four-meter drawdown in the beach wells will force the flow from the eastern direction to the sea. This will have positive impacts on the aquifer since it will decrease the seawater intrusion to the aquifer. The beach wells will pump water with Cl concentration equal to 18,000 mg/l. This means that the beach wells will accelerate the flow from the aquifer to the sea direction but still the pumped water is considered as seawater. This indicates the positive impacts on the groundwater aquifer since it will decrease the seawater intrusion in the beach wells area (Gaza Strip Middle area). In conclusion, these beach wells in this desalination plant (small capacity) are safe for the groundwater aquifer and it will decrease the effect of seawater intrusion on the aquifer.
