scholarly journals Modeling the risk of groundwater contamination using modified DRASTIC and GIS in Amman-Zerqa Basin, Jordan

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulla Al-Rawabdeh ◽  
Nadhir Al-Ansari ◽  
Ahmed Al-Taani ◽  
Fadi Al-Khateeb ◽  
Sven Knutsson

AbstractAmman-Zerqa Basin (AZB) is the second largest groundwater basin in Jordan with the highest abstraction rate, where more than 28% of total abstractions in Jordan come from this basin. In view of the extensive reliance on this basin, contamination of AZB groundwater became an alarming issue. This paper develops a Modified DRASTIC model by combining the generic DRASTIC model with land use activities and lineament density for the study area with a new model map that evaluates pollution potential of groundwater resources in AZB to various types of pollution. It involves the comparison of modified DRASTIC model that integrates nitrate loading along with other DRASTIC parameters. In addition, parameters to account for differences in land use and lineaments density were added to the DRASTIC model to reflect their influences on groundwater pollution potential. The DRASTIC model showed only 0.08% (3 km2) of the AZB is situated in the high vulnerability area and about 30% of the basin is located in the moderately vulnerable zone (mainly in central basin). After modifying the DRASTIC to account for lineament density, about 87% of the area was classified as having low pollution potential and no vulnerability class accounts for about 5.01% of the AZB area. The moderately susceptible zone covers 7.83% of the basin’s total area and the high vulnerability area constitutes 0.13%. The vulnerability map based on land use revealed that about 71% of the study area has low pollution potential and no vulnerability area accounts for about 0.55%, whereas moderate pollution potential zone covers an area of 28.35% and the high vulnerability class constitutes 0.11% of AZB. The final DRASTIC model which combined all DRASTIC models shows that slightly more than 89% of the study area falls under low pollution risk and about 6% is considered areas with no vulnerability. The moderate pollution risk potential covers an area of about 4% of AZB and the high vulnerability class constitutes 0.21% of the basin. The results also showed that an area of about 1761 km2 of bare soils is of low vulnerability, whereas about 28 km2 is moderately vulnerable. For agriculture and the urban sector, approximately 1472 km2 are located within the low vulnerability zone and about 144 km2 are moderately vulnerable, which together account for about 8% of the total agriculture and urban area. These areas are contaminated with human activities, particularly from the agriculture. Management of land use must be considered when changing human or agricultural activity patterns in the study area, to reduce groundwater vulnerability in the basin. The results also showed that the wells with the highest nitrate levels (81–107 mg/l) were located in high vulnerable areas and are attributed to leakage from old sewage water.

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1636
Author(s):  
Thanh N. Le ◽  
Duy X. Tran ◽  
Thuong V. Tran ◽  
Sangay Gyeltshen ◽  
Tan V. Lam ◽  
...  

Saltwater intrusion risk assessment is a foundational step for preventing and controlling salinization in coastal regions. The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) is highly affected by drought and salinization threats, especially severe under the impacts of global climate change and the rapid development of an upstream hydropower dam system. This study aimed to apply a modified DRASTIC model, which combines the generic DRASTIC model with hydrological and anthropogenic factors (i.e., river catchment and land use), to examine seawater intrusion vulnerability in the soil-water-bearing layer in the Ben Tre province, located in the VMD. One hundred and fifty hand-auger samples for total dissolved solids (TDS) measurements, one of the reflected salinity parameters, were used to validate the results obtained with both the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models. The spatial analysis tools in the ArcGIS software (i.e., Kriging and data classification tools) were used to interpolate, classify, and map the input factors and salinization susceptibility in the study area. The results show that the vulnerability index values obtained from the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models were 36–128 and 55–163, respectively. The vulnerable indices increased from inland districts to coastal areas. The Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts were recorded as having very high vulnerability to salinization, while the Chau Thanh and Cho Lach districts were at a low vulnerability level. From the comparative analysis of the two models, it is obvious that the modified DRASTIC model with the inclusion of a river or canal network and agricultural practices factors enables better performance than the generic DRASTIC model. This enhancement is explained by the significant impact of anthropogenic activities on the salinization of soil water content. This study’s results can be used as scientific implications for planners and decision-makers in river catchment and land-use management practices.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Chenini ◽  
Adel Zghibi ◽  
Mohamed Haythem Msaddek ◽  
Mahmoud Dlala

Abstract The groundwater vulnerability assessment is normally applied to rural watersheds. However, urbanization modifies the hydrogeological processes. A modified DRASTIC model was adopted to establish a groundwater vulnerability map in an urbanized watershed. The modified DRASTIC model incorporated a land-use map, and net recharge was calculated taking into account the specificity of the urban hydrogeological system. The application of the proposed approach to the Mannouba watershed demonstrates that the groundwater vulnerability indexes range from 80 to 165. The study's results shows that 30 percent of the Mannouba watershed area has a high vulnerability index, 45 percent of the area has a medium index, and 25 percent of the study area has a low vulnerability index. To specify the effect of each DRASTIC factor on the calculated vulnerability index, sensitivity analyses were performed. Land use, topography, and soil media have an important theoretical weight greater than the effective weight. The impact of the vadose zone factor has the most important effective weight and affects the vulnerability index. The sensitivity assessment explored the variation in vulnerability after thematic layer removal. In this analysis, the removal of hydraulic conductivity and impact of vadose zone modified the vulnerability index. Groundwater vulnerability assessment in urbanized watersheds is difficult and has to consider the impact of urbanization in the hydrogeological parameters.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Goodarzi ◽  
Amirreza R. Niknam ◽  
Vahid Jamali ◽  
Hamid Reza Pourghasemi ◽  
Mahboobeh Kiani-Harchegani

Abstract In arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran, groundwater is more important for humans and ecosystems than surface water. Different models of groundwater vulnerability assessment can be used to better manage water resources. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the qualitative vulnerability of groundwater resources in the Birjand Plain aquifer using the DRASTIC model and 7 hydrogeological components. DRASTIC model was also modified by adding a land use component (MDRASTIC) based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) methods. After calculating the vulnerability index, the vulnerability of each method was mapped and the final index obtained from each method was classified into 4 different categories. Nitrate concentration was used to confirm the results and to analyze the sensitivity of a single parameter. Sensitivity analysis showed that the groundwater vulnerability is mainly affected by water depth and land use. To validate each of the models, their correlation with nitrate concentration was calculated and compared. To determine the correlation coefficient, simple linear regression method was performed and the Pearson and Spearman methods were used. According to the obtained Pearson correlation results, the DRASTIC, MDRASTIC, MDRASTIC-AHP, and MDRASTIC-FAHP models resulted in values of 0.550, 0.680, 0.778, and 0.794respectively. The results show a good correlation between the modified DRASTIC-FAHP model and nitrate concentration as an indicator of groundwater pollution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanim Farhana Abdul Rahman ◽  
Mohamed Azwan Mohamad Zawawi ◽  
Hafizan B Juahir ◽  
Ezzuldin Hasan B Mohamed

This study covered the assessment of groundwater pollution potential using modified DRASTIC model and GIS based on hydro-geological environmental parameters Selangor State in Malaysia. The modification of ranges and ratings index in DRASTIC was done using GIS to accommodate hydro-geological settings to implement and adopt data according to Selangor hydro geological environmental parameters. The groundwater pollution potential map showed that the high risk groundwater pollution potential covered 17% of study area in west side of Selangor however, 27% of the east side of Selangor exposed to low risk groundwater pollution potential. Most of the affected area was considered in low land area along the coastal in shallow groundwater table alluvial aquifer. The results significantly show that groundwater pollution potential map was successfully developed using hydro-geological parameters for Selangor area.


Author(s):  
M. Nakhostinrouhi ◽  
M. H. Rezaei Moghaddam

Abstract. Groundwater resources play an important role not only in providing drinking water but also in irrigation, industry and power generation. In general, groundwater is a part of the water cycle in nature that can be collected by wells, qanats, drains, or natural springs. In this research, the potential of groundwater vulnerability in Ajabshir plain, located in the Southwest of East Azerbaijan Province and Southeast of the Urmia Lake, Iran, is investigated using 7 hydrogeological parameters as well as land-use criterion. Depth to water map is provided using 26 boreholes. Twenty-seven drilling points are also used in generating aquifer media and impact of vadose zone maps. After providing and ranking all layers, they are multiplied by appropriate weights and overlaid to produce vulnerability map. Modified-DRASTIC model is applied to achieve the aim. According to the results, an approximately large part of the aquifer (29 percent), mostly located in the west of the plain, is covered with moderate vulnerability class. Spearman correlation coefficient is calculated 0.63 between the vulnerability and land use maps.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6976
Author(s):  
Dimitrios E. Alexakis ◽  
George D. Bathrellos ◽  
Hariklia D. Skilodimou ◽  
Dimitra E. Gamvroula

Karst features such as polje are highly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic pollution. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the soil quality in the Ioannina polje (north-west Greece) concerning arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn), and delineate their origin as well as compare the As and Zn content in soil with criteria recorded in the literature. For this purpose, the geomorphological settings, the land use, and the soil physicochemical properties were mapped and evaluated, including soil texture and concentrations of aqua-regia extractable As and Zn. The concentration of elements was spatially correlated with the land use and the geology of the study area, while screening values were applied to assess land suitability. The results reveal that 72% of the total study area has a very gentle slope. This relief favors urban and agricultural activity. Thus, the urban and agricultural land used cover 92% of the total area. The spatial distribution for As and Zn in the soil of the study area is located on very gentle slopes and is strongly correlated with the geological parent materials and human-induced contamination sources. Arsenic and Zn can be considered enriched in the soil of the area studied. The median topsoil contents (in mg kg−1) for As (agricultural soil 16.0; urban soil 17.8) and Zn (agricultural soil 92.0; urban soil 95.0) are higher compared to the corresponding median values of European topsoils. Land evaluation suitability concerning criteria given from the literature is discussed. The proposed work may be helpful in the project of land use planning and the protection of the natural environment.


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