Water quality assessment by using contamination index (CI) and Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (IHE) methods in the Wetlands Complex of El Kala, extreme northeastern Algeria

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences 2022, Vol.15 (1), Article 55
• Main Authors: Saadali, Badreddine, Derradji, El Fadel, Hamad, Amor, Zerrouki, Hicham, Khiari, Abdelkader, Brahmi, Smail
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2nd CAJG 2019; Ammonium; Ammonium compounds; Anthropogenic factors; Biochemical oxygen demand; Chemical contaminants; Chemical contamination; Chemical oxygen demand; Chemical pollution; Chlorides; Contamination; Dissolved oxygen; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth science; Earth Sciences; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Epidemiology; Groundwater; Human wastes; Hygiene; Methods; Nitrates; Nutrients; Oxygen; Phosphates; Phosphorus; Phosphorus pentoxide; Pollutants; Quality assessment; Quality control; Receiving waters; Sodium; Total oxygen demand; Water analysis; Water pollution; Water quality; Water quality assessments; Water resources; Water sampling; Waterfowl; Wetlands
• ISSN: 1866-7511; 1866-7538
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-021-08873-8

The present study investigates the deterioration of water quality in the El Kala Wetlands Complex (EKWC) designed for hosting waterfowl and for receiving bird migrants. This study aims at assessing water resources quality by identifying the inorganic contamination and the organic pollution degrees of water-related to human products and wastes. Accordingly, twelve superficial and groundwater samples were collected to be analyzed for the electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), sodium (Na + ), chlorides (Cl − ), sulfates (SO 4 2− ), nitrates (NO 3 − ), ammonium (NH 4 + ), total phosphorus (P 2 O 5 ), phosphates (PO 4 3− ), biological oxygen demand (BOD 5 ), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Alongside, the methods of contamination index (CI) and Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (IHE) were adopted. The results reveal that CI ranged between 3 and 14 while the plurality of samples presented low chemical contamination of waters. The IHE averages varied from 1.83 to 1.50 (superficial water) and 2.33 (groundwater); waters are found highly polluted. It is shown that water resources are contaminated by pollutants and nutrients of anthropogenic origin.