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This study was concerned with assessment the water quality of Euphrates River in the middle of Iraq. Water quality assessment is the overall process of evaluation of the physical, chemical and biological nature of the water. Water pollution for Euphrates River in Middle of Iraq (Babylon, Al-Najaf, and Al-Diwaniya governorates) occurs in both rural and urban areas. In rural areas, drinking water from natural sources such as rivers and streams is usually polluted by organic substances from upstream users who use water for agricultural activities. To protect the water resources from pollution and deterioration which caused by natural pollutants or human activities, an environmental database was constructed and applied. A Visual Basic (version 6.0) Software program was constructed to evaluate the pollutant concentrations using regression models obtained by Data Fit Software program (version 8.0) to make the monitoring system. The result of the program is verified with data of year 2008 which is not included in regression model. This verification shows a good agreement with coefficient of determination ranged between “0.914 to 0.994”To assess water body for compliance with standards that have been set to define requirements for various functions and uses, the water body concerned, were compared with the Iraqi, and WHO standards for domestic and irrigation purposes, for determining whether water quality at sampling sites exceeds water quality standards. A comparison shows that these parameters in some stations are within the Iraqi and WHO standards (i.e. total dissolved solids (TDS): in Al-Musaib, Al-Kufa, Al-Shamya station), and (calcium (Ca): in Al-Hindya Barrage station).

The present study aims at the development of a green sorbent (MgAl-LDH-biochar) from the municipal solid wastes (cow bones) to remediate water from heavy metals. MgAl-LDH-biochar was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and it was used to remove lead at different pH, doses, contact time (Ct), and solution temperatures (St). The obtained results proved MgAl-LDH-biochar removes 99% of lead when the initial pH, Ct, St, and dose were 5.0, 80 min, 45°C, and 0.2 g·L–1, respectively.

The present investigation has been devoted to assessing the environmental impacts of a local landfill, in the north of Hilla city, Iraq, on the surrounding soils in terms of heavy metal pollution. The concentrations of heavy metals, namely chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were measured during, November 2019, at three investigation sites that located at distances of 10 (site 1), 20 (site 2) and 30 m (site 3) from the edge of the mentioned landfill. Soil samples were collected from these sites at a constant depth of 20 cm. The collected samples were air-dried, manually crushed, and sieved through a 2 mm mesh before subjecting them to a chemical digesting process. The concentrations of the targeted metals were measured using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and compared to the standards of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). The obtained results showed that the highest concentrations of the targeted metals were in site 1, while the lowest concentrations were detected at site 3. Generally, it was found that the concentrations of the studied metals followed the order: Cr>Pb>Ni>Cu. Additionally, it was noticed that all the measured concentrations were within the limitations of the SEPA.