Water quality in the Northern part of MellegueMedjerda watershed (East Algeria) has been adversely affected by important pollutants discharged into the Medjerda wadi without, in most cases, any treatment. Chemical and physical degradation are due to agricultural and industrial practices and domestic wastewaters. Over a three-month period, a study of the low-flow water quality characteristics throughout Medjerda wadi was undertaken. Longitudinal profiles of water quality were constructed using data from fourteen sites. All sewage, agricultural, and industrial inputs were included. Analyzed properties were nutrients (NO 3 -, NO 2 -, NH 4 ? , and PO 4 3-), Biochemical oxygen demand after five days (BOD 5 ), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and dissolved oxygen (DO). Along Medjerda wadi, all values change because of conditions specific to each sampling station. Nitrate was the most important form of nitrogen-element load (94%). Its concentration reached 34.3 mg L -1 at OM 4 point, downstream of domestic wastewater discharges. The spatial evolution of the organic pollution index (OPI) shows that the wastewater effluent constitutes the main source of pollution. Indeed, water quality goes from a moderate pollution state at some sampling stations not or slightly affected by wastewaters discharges to a very strong pollution state (OPI of about 1.75) downstream of the domestic effluents inputs of Souk-Ahras city.
The extreme north-eastern Algeria, in particular the Guelma city conceals thermal springs, whose waters circulating at great depths allow the rain-waters to warm up (according to the average geothermal gradient of 1°C per 33 m) and to acquire a mineralization which depends on the traversed rock. The goal of this research work was to determine mineralization origin of the thermo-mineral waters of Hammam Meskoutine (Algerian N-E). A hydro-chemical study involved analyses of a number of physical and chemical parameters of waters such as: temperature, hydrogen potential, electrolytical conductivity, Cl-, SO4 2-, HCO3 -, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+. The data processing on the diagram revealed two dominating chemical facies: sulphate-magnesium and bicarbonate magnesium. With a high conductivity in excess of 2300 μS·cm-1, the temperature reaches 97°C. Calculation of the saturation index shows that the waters are supersaturated in carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite and aragonite) and less saturated with evaporite minerals (halite, anhydrite, sylvite and gypsum). The reconstitution in dissolved salts reveals a dominant salt rich in calcium bicarbonates, in calcium sulphates and secondarily in magnesium salts. Geological sections used in the study zone affirm that the chemical composition of the spring waters comes from the neritic limestone dissolution and the gypso-saline complex of Hammam Meskoutine.
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