Assessment of water pollution indicators for the springs and wells of wadi abu al-qamra watershed

Abstract

Water quality is a concept referring to the chemical, biological and physical characteristics of the water. The required water quality is determined by the purpose for which the water is to be used (domestic, urban , agricultural or industrial). The evaluation of the water, for any purpose, is based on the characteristics of the water compared to a standard for that target use. By standard is meant the concentration of a constituent which causes no negative effect to the health of the consumer over the life of consumption (i.e.who). Springs in the Hebron district are an important source of water for domestic as well as irrigation purposes. Previous investigators (Awadallah and Owawi , 2005) reported that the district contains springs/dug wells that discharge, annually , more than 2 million cubic meters of water . in some Palestinian communities a spring is the only source of water. This study is of considerable importance as it will discuss in details the springs (dug wells) of wadi abu al-qamra an erea located to the south of dura city in the south – western part of the Hebron district. The wadi discharge, in terms of springs and dug wells, besides its water quality parameters will be measured or assessed. Our study indicated that the wadi has 61 springs (and dug wells) which are mostly of private ownership. Also most of the available water in the area comes from dug wells rather than exposed spring. This mean that people draw the water mainly by pumping , in the whole catchments , 17 and 44 wells are existing.