Water Conservation and Management (WCM)

Groundwater is the main freshwater source in semi-arid areas, thus, needs protection from human pollution. The municipal solid waste landfill and an untreated wastewater disposal facility are located in Al-Lajjoun region of central Jordan which situated within the recharge zone of the Amman-Wadi Sir (A7/B2) carbonate aquifer, this study investigates the sustainability and the groundwater quality. for that reason, untreated wastewater and soil samples impacted by leachate, and eight production wells were observed in the summer and winter. Major ions, trace metals, and physicochemical properties were examined and compared with Jordanian drinking water standards. The results show that the groundwater hydrochemistry is mainly consistent during the year, where the majority of parameters falling within permitted limits. Nevertheless, chromium concentration in all wells continuously exceed drinking water regulation, indicating a recurring pollution problem. Meanwhile, the landfill leachate saturated soils demonstrated high concentrations of Fe, Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Mn compared with baseline values. Untreated wastewater had high organic and nutrient concentrations. The high metal concentrations in leachate affected soils lead to a possible permanent risk to the aquifer sustainability even in the absence of direct hydraulic mixing between wastewater and groundwater, particularly, in structurally fractured carbonate systems. The findings demonstrate the aquifer’s resilience under current conditions, Also, shows the necessity for long-term hydrochemical monitoring, engineered barrier structures, and preventive management to ensure groundwater conservation in arid zones.

This study presents a numerical assessment of groundwater flow and filtration properties of the Senonian-Lower Eocene aquifer complex within the Karakata artesian basin (Uzbekistan), based on the interpretation of long-term operational data, well test results, and regime observations obtained under conditions of incomplete and heterogeneous hydrogeological information, where key filtration, water conductivity, elasticity, and piezo conductivity parameters were estimated using analytical approaches and refined through inverse problem solutions, and a single-layer groundwater flow model with spatially heterogeneous hydraulic properties was developed using the MODFLOW code, incorporating major structural features of the basin including tectonic fault zones acting as pathways for additional groundwater recharge and discharge, with model calibration performed through stationary and transient inverse simulations achieving good agreement between observed and simulated piezometric heads with deviations generally within ±5 m, while the results indicate that the aquifer complex is predominantly confined and exhibits pronounced lateral heterogeneity in hydraulic conductivity, long-term exploitation has been sustained mainly by dynamic flow reserves and elastic storage with a significant contribution from fault-controlled inflow from the Paleozoic basement, the estimated dynamic groundwater reserves are lower than previously reported values, and the developed model provides a reliable framework for groundwater balance assessment, forecasting of aquifer response to pumping, and sustainable groundwater resource management in arid regions.

Climate change greatly influences ecosystems, communities, and economies, the effects of climate change on water supplies, environmental conditions, and weather patterns will typically have both abrupt and gradual impacts on all three categories, in Iraq, the geographical analysis focused on the annual concentration of precipitation, the high-resolution climate grid (0.5×0.5) used in this analysis provided information for the period of 1956 to 2025, it used an initial 5-year period and the final 5-year period within each decade, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enabled the study to achieve the objectives of this analysis, rainfall figures reflect great variability among the rainfalls recorded within the different decades of the second millennium, in the 6th decade of the 20th century, annual rainfall ranged from 21–1047 mm, in the seventh decade between 32–1080 mm, in the 8th decade between 105–1082 mm, in the 9th decade between 110–1037 mm, and in the 10th decade between 98–1091 mm, even though there were large fluctuations from one rainy season to another, both 5-year periods within each of the three decades had relatively consistent rainfall amounts, while there was a pronounced decrease from monthly to long-term intensity during the first and second decades of the third millennium, the total volume of precipitation recorded was significantly lower than the previous two decades; for example, during the first decade of the 3rd millennium total amount of precipitation was 114–986 mm, and during the second decade total amount of precipitation was 89–987 mm, precipitation has been highest near those regions which experience the most rainfall (northeast and north), while precipitation amounts are substantially less in southern and southwest Iraq, the annual rainfall averages are well below those seen at the end of the twentieth century and over the last few decades as a consequence of climate change, the average annual precipitation amounts from the rainfall maps vary from 76 mm to 1,014 mm, while the average annual precipitation amount for the 2010’s was 1,065 mm, the northern areas have consistently received more precipitation than the southern areas, which are mostly dry, therefore, Iraq is already suffering from decreased precipitation due to the ongoing effects of variability in rainfall patterns, as a result, there is an urgent need to examine different sources of water and the efficient use of what falls as precipitation.

The rapid development of mineral water desalination technologies, particularly for pasture-based livestock farming in remote regions, has resulted in the generation of substantial volumes of highly concentrated brines and regenerating chemical solutions, the uncontrolled discharge of these waste streams poses serious environmental threats, including soil salinization and groundwater contamination, this study aims to develop and experimentally validate a sustainable technology for the disposal and reuse of brines and wash solutions produced during the desalination of mineralized water using a mobile reverse osmosis (RO) unit, to minimize environmental impacts, a comprehensive methodological framework combining analytical, experimental, functional, and statistical approaches was applied to identify weaknesses in existing desalination methods and to assess the performance of a vacuum evaporation system, the chemical composition of the treated mineral water was analyzed, and a bench-scale vacuum evaporator was designed and tested, the proposed process scheme for the mobile RO unit includes a vacuum evaporation module capable of achieving a vacuum of –0.7 bar and a heating temperature of up to 60 °C, enabling efficient brine concentration, regeneration of chemical solutions, complete liquid waste recycling, and recovery of dry residues, while returning distilled water to the desalination cycle, the developed technology can be applied for irrigation of remote pastures and to improve the environmental performance and cost efficiency of industrial water treatment systems.

Drought constrains agricultural sustainability and ecological viability, especially within arid environments where water resource availability is the fundamental restriction, in this study, we assessed the spatiotemporal variability of droughts and surface water in the Baghdad Governorate State, Iraq using a systematic approach integrating remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS), a comprehensive series of time-series aerial imagery (Missions 1–9) of the Landsat satellite covering a span of 55 years from 1970–2025 were analyzed at five-year intervals, two indices were employed: the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) indicative of agricultural stress and the Enhanced Water Index (EWI) used to demarcate Emerged Water Regions (EWR), the analyses demonstrate pronounced cycles of degradation and recovery within this ecosystem, a disastrous ‘drought’ period was found in 1980 with widespread collapse of vegetation vigor and dramatic contraction of the Tigris and its tributary dry canals, such extreme deficits were also found in 2000 and 2005, particularly impacting on the agricultural districts of Abu Ghraib and Al-Madain, hydrogenically speaking, 1995 and additionally 2020 were hydrological ‘optimums’ where emergent water bodies have directly supported a widespread rejuvenation of lush vegetation, worryingly perhaps, prediction for 2025 indicates a return to ‘Severe’ to ‘Extreme’ level of ‘drought’ as in the 1980 crisis, our results provide novel evidence for water managers about the liner dependence of the Baghdad ecosystem on the continuity of surface water relaying grave concerns about the cyclical aridity of the region.

The study investigated the removal of divalent manganese (Mn2+) cations using watermelon rinds, as a low￾cost adsorbent, in a batch-type adsorption system under different ranges of the most important operating conditions affecting the adsorption process, which included pH, contact time, initial concentration of divalent manganese ions (Mn2+), agitation rate, temperature, and adsorbent dosage. The operating factor values varied between 1-10, 5-180 minutes, 1-40 ppm, 100-500 rpm, 25-50°C, and 0.5-7 g, respectively. The results obtained indicated that a dose of 6.5 g of Iraqi virgin watermelon rinds successfully treated solutions contaminated with divalent manganese (Mn2+) cations by 81.4% in 150 minutes, at the highest temperature, with an agitation speed of 400 rpm, and a pH of 8.

Accurate and reliable water level measurement is a critical task in hydrology, water resource management, irrigation systems, and automated industrial processes. This paper presents a comprehensive study of modern ultrasonic methods and tools for non-contact water level measurement, supported by mathematical modeling of liquid level dynamics in reservoirs. Typical mathematical models describing ultrasonic level measurement systems are developed and analyzed. The principles of operation of ultrasonic sensors, the formation of the detection zone, and the influence of geometric and physical parameters on measurement accuracy are discussed in detail. Particular attention is paid to sensor installation rules, operational constraints, and signal reflection characteristics. As a practical case study, the technical and metrological parameters of the UDM-110 ultrasonic level meter are analyzed. Mathematical models based on mass balance equations are derived to describe transient and steady-state variations of liquid level in reservoirs. The obtained models enable analytical evaluation of system dynamics and provide a foundation for the design and optimization of automated level control systems. The results confirm that ultrasonic level measurement combined with mathematical modeling ensures reliable, accurate, and cost-effective monitoring of water levels in open and closed reservoirs.

The world has faced many problems as a result of population growth. One of the main issues is the problem caused by the continuous decline in water quality. Indonesia’s Water Quality Index (WQI) shows an increasingly deteriorating water quality condition year after year. The Cielungsi River is one of the upper sub￾basins of the Bekasi River Basin. The Cileungsi watershed consists of the sub-watersheds of Cibadak, Ciherang, Cijonggol, Cikeruh, Cileungsi, and Citeureup. The land use and activities in the upstream of the Cileungsi River are quite diverse, and in some watersheds, housing development activities have already begun. The role of key stakeholders in determining water pollution control is the efforts of prevention, pollution control, and water quality restoration to ensure compliance with the established water quality standards. This study uses a prospective analysis method with the help of MACTOR which identifies key stakeholders, namely the BPDAS KLHK Bureau, the Natural Resources Bureau of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the Directorate of Water Pollution Control of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, BBWS – Ciliwung Cisadane, and the Provincial Environmental Agency.

Drainage canals in Kurunegala city in Sri Lanka are facing eutrophication and lousy odor even though wastewater is treated in the sewage treatment plant (STP). Wastewater from the city is effectively treated to acceptable quality complying with discharge standards and released back to the same drains. This study investigated the recontamination of treated water in urban drains and explored the potential of utilizing treated water for direct non-potable uses (NPU) to achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Water samples from five sampling sites downstream to the STP were taken and temporal and spatial variations of physicochemical parameters and E. coli were assessed. It was observed that the water quality in urban drains is a result of excessive nutrients in the water, likely caused by recontamination of the treated wastewater by external sources. After the establishment of the STP, current water quality in the canals depicted only marginal improvement (p<0.05, GLM) except for TDS, pH, conductivity, and E. coli. To address this issue, the best solution could be employed is to direct treated wastewater for NPUs such as agricultural irrigation, industrial processes, and urban landscaping, by which recontamination of the treated wastewater in the drains could be minimized. Treated wastewater utilization in NPU will help to reach multiple SDGs, thus increasing social benefits for the local population. The results of this research indicate that using treated wastewater in urban areas is a viable method of fulfilling many of the SDG goals, especially those related to water scarcity. Importance of diverting treated wastewater away from polluted canals to meet increasing water needs is emphasized by the findings.

This study presents an integrated approach to groundwater level monitoring in the Tashkent region, combining classical piezometric measurements, automated sensors, and satellite-based remote sensing. A regression model linking groundwater levels to monthly precipitation (P) and water abstraction volumes (Q) was developed using simulated 2024 data. The results reveal a clear seasonal pattern: groundwater levels peak during the wet season and decline sharply during the irrigation-intensive summer months. The model provides a scientific basis for adaptive water management policies under increasing climatic and anthropogenic pressures.