ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE SURFACE WATERS OF WADIS "BOUKHMIRA, MEBOUDJA AND SEYBOUSE" USED IN IRRIGATION IN THE NORTH-EAST OF ALGERIA

• Published in: Studia Universitatis "Vasile Goldiș". Seria ș̦tiințele vieții Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 95 - 106
• Main Authors: Youbi, Amira, Houilia, Ahmed, Soumati, Boudjema, Berrebbah, Houria, Djebar, Mohammed Réda, Souiki, Lynda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arad "Vasile Goldis" Western University Arad, Romania 01-04-2018
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Agriculture; Biodegradation; Dissolved oxygen; Fecal coliforms; Irrigation; Nitrites; Pollution; Principal components analysis; Studies; Surface water; Suspended matter; Wastewater; Water quality; Morocco; Algeria; Mediterranean Sea
• ISSN: 1584-2363; 1842-7963

The use of surface waters of the Boukhmira, Meboudja and Seybouse wadis for agricultural purposes in the far north-east of Algeria is accompanied by health and environmental risks, the evaluation of which requires physicochemical and microbiological characterization. Bi-monthly samples were taken from February to December 2016 at the three studied sites. The results revealed that the waters studied are characterized by low levels of dissolved oxygen (2.90 ± 1.77 mg/l O2), high levels of suspended matter (TSS) (134.5 ± 17.22 mg/l), Nitrites (0.66 ± 0.25 mg / l) and Orthophosphates (6.54 ± 2.39 mg/l), high values in BOD5 (32.68 ± 11.04 mg/l O2), and in COD (95.74 ± 19.14 mg/l O2), as well as a microbiological pollution noticed by a heavy load of total germs, total coliforms, faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci, which exceed widely the standards of use of waste water in agriculture. The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) allowed us to evaluate the quality of wadis waters and to identify the main causes of degradation that are industrial, agricultural and domestic activities.Keywords: water, irrigation, agriculture, pollution, PCA