One of the important purposes of hydrology is to ensure water supply in accordance with the quality criteria for agricultural, industrial, and drinking water uses. The groundwater is the main source of water supply in arid and semi-arid regions. This study was conducted to evaluate factors regulating groundwater quality in Rafsanjan plain. A total of 1040 groundwater samples randomly were collected from different areas of Rafsanjan. Then, each sample was analyzed for the major ions based on standard methods. The pH, SAR, EC, and TDS parameters and concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+ cations, and Cl−, , and anions were measured. Also boron concentration in each sample was determined. Although, maximum and minimum values of EC and TDS linked to the Anar-Beyaz area and Eastern Urban, respectively, irrigation water EC condition, however, was critical in the study areas. The pH value in Western Urban was higher than the other areas, and its value for Anar-Beyaz area was lower than the other areas, but pH value is at the optimal level in all the study areas. The results showed that hazard state with respect to Mg was critical except in Koshkoueiyeh and Anar-Beyaz areas, that these areas are marginal for irrigation use with little harm with reference to Mg. From the results, it was concluded that the status of boron concentration in study areas was critical. According to the hydrochemistry diagrams, the main groundwater type in different study areas was NaCl. Groundwater quality was not appropriate for drinking usage, and its status for agricultural practices was unsuitable in these areas.

This research is aimed to study comparison of the effects of applied nanozeolite and zeolite on aggregation and organic carbon (OC) in each aggregate size fraction in treated soil with different levels of some plant residues and incubation for 90 days. The analysis of variance showed that the effects of applied nanozeolite, zeolite, plant residues, and their interaction and incubation times on MWDw and OC in aggregate size fractions were statistically significant. The results showed that MWDw and OC contents in each aggregate size fraction increased with the additions of nanozeolite, zeolite, and plant residues. This study also revealed that nanozeolite and alfalfa straw were more effective for increasing the MWDw and OC contents in aggregate size fractions than zeolite and wheat straw, respectively. In other words, higher percentage nanozeolite, zeolite, and plant residues resulted in increasing the MWDw and OC in aggregate size fractions. The highest amounts of OC were observed in A and B compounds compared with the control and other treatments. However, the comparison of OC contents in all the treatments showed that proportion of nanozeolite for increasing the OC content was greater than that of zeolite. Also the highest OC contents were observed in larger aggregate size fractions. The MWDw and OC contents increased with the increasing days of incubation in treated soil. Thus, it was concluded that compound A can be more effective to improve the soil carbon sequestration.

Heavy metal (HM) contamination in road dust is a potential environmental and human health threat. The sources, concentrations, spatial distribution, and ecological risk of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in road dust in Rafsanjan City, Iran, were investigated. Pollution was assessed using the enrichment factor (EF). The potentially harmful effects of HMs were evaluated by calculating the potential ecological risk factor of individual metals (E ) and of multiple metals (RI) using the Hakanson method. Correlation and principal component analyses (PCA) were applied to identify HM pollution sources. The concentrations of HMs in road dust were higher (ca. 5-10 folds) than their natural background values. The EF and E increased according to the following order Cu > Pb > As > Zn > Cd > Cr > Ni and Cu > Cd > Pb > As > Ni > Zn > Cr, respectively. Thus, Cu is regarded as the pollutant of highest concern. Based on potential ecological risk index (RI) spatial distribution, all parts of Rafsanjan are characterized by significantly high potential ecological risk. HM concentration heat maps, PCA, and correlation analysis suggest that Cu, Pb, As, Cd, and Zn may have originated from the same source and follow the same spatial distribution pattern. These metals originated mainly from anthropogenic sources like copper mining and smelting plants, industrial and chemical activities, inordinate application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farmlands, and heavy traffic. Ni and Cr are likely to origniate from the industrial activities and traffic load in Rafsanjan City.

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Humans can be directly exposed to potentially toxic metals in the urban environment via inhalation, ingestion, or dermal contact of dust particles. This paper focuses on human health risk assessment of urban dust contaminated with potentially toxic metals. The levels, sources, and human health risks of nine potentially toxic metals (i.e., As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Co, Mn, and Zn) in 200 road dust samples from Rafsanjan area were investigated. Pollution level was assessed using the pollution index (PI) and geoaccumulation index (I), and the health risk assessment was performed following the methodology described by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The mean concentrations of As, Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn, Co, and Mn in road dust were 105.3 ± 5.7, 791.4 ± 29.8, 123.1 ± 9.7, 28.4 ± 3.3, 3.1 ± 0.6, 18.4 ± 1.6, 252.6 ± 8.3, 16.5 ± 1.4, and 525.9 ± 21.0 mg kg, respectively. Thus, the concentrations of potentially toxic metals in road dust were higher than their corresponding natural background values, indicating that all studied potentially toxic metals were impacted by anthropogenic activities. The results of the current study are comparable to other studies conducted on road dust in other cities worldwide. Both of I and PI decreased following order Cu > Mn > Pb > As > Zn > Cd > Ni > Cr > Co. Health risk assessment indicated that both of children and adults could be exposed to a potential increased risk of developing cancer over a lifetime from exposure to arsenic through ingestion of the dust samples. However, Pb ingestion can increase cancer risk in children.

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River water can be known as one of the source of water supply in arid and semi-arid regions. One of the important purposes of hydrology is to ensure water supply in accordance with the quality criteria for agricultural, industrial, and drinking water uses. The main objective of this study was to assess the annual changes of water quality in terms of suitability for drinking and agricultural uses in Givdari River, Rafsanjan, Iran. For this purpose, a dataset of monthly averaged values of water quality variables for the Givdari River was prepared for the years of 2001-2010. Result showed that based on the EC and TDS values, the use of river water for irrigation is suitable and acceptable. The pH values were suitable for agriculture and drinking uses in all the studied years. The results also indicated that hazard state with respect to Mg had normal status. According to the correlation coefficient (r), values there are statistically significant (a = 0.01) positive correlations between Cl and Na (r = 0.981), Cl and Mg (r = 0.894), and Cl and SO 4 (r = 0.872). The TDS had good significant correlation with EC (r = 0.999) and all cations and SO 4 and HCO 3 anions at the 0.01 level. The Total Hardness (TH) had good statistically significant correlation with all cations and some anions such as Cl, and HCO 3. According to the hydrochemistry diagrams, the main water types during 10 years based on the frequency were NaCl and NaHCO 3 .