Abstract
Water quality preservation represents one of the biggest challenges the world is facing nowadays. In Morocco, water quality decline is among the significant problems facing the country’s water sector. Geographic Information System (GIS) is an effective and useful tool for interpreting, evaluating and displaying spatial data for water resources management. In order to assess the Physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater of the Sahel-Doukkala aquifers, water samples were collected from 50 points well distributed in the study area, analysed according to standard methods, and the results were interpreted using the geographic information system (GIS) technique. There was an important spatial variability in the studied parameters and element concentrations (T°, pH, EC, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr, B and Na+), revealing that the aquifers lithology, sea intrusion and the agriculture methods are the main factors influencing the water nature in the study area.
Highlights
Water quality degradation is among the most challenging issues the world is currently facing
In the recently published report of the United Nations World Water Development (WWRD), it was reported that about 6 billion peoples around the world would suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050 while the global water demand is estimated to increase by 20 to 30% per year in the three decades [2]
The Sahel Doukkala is a coastal region located in the provinces of Safi and El Jadida and subdivided into two large areas on the Sahel and Doukkala situated between latitudes ° 15' and ° 15' North and longitudes 8° and 9°15' covering an area of 7700 Km2 with about 150 km of coastline
Summary
Water quality degradation is among the most challenging issues the world is currently facing. According to Wada et al, 2016, the worldwide water demand has increased by 600% compared to the past 100 years. In the recently published report of the United Nations World Water Development (WWRD), it was reported that about 6 billion peoples around the world would suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050 while the global water demand is estimated to increase by 20 to 30% per year in the three decades [2]. In Morocco, the groundwater resources suffer from the nature of Moroccan climate (Dry and semi-dry climate) [3], climate change effect [4,5,6], anthropogenic pressures [7, 8], and the mismanagement of freshwater sources [9]. According to the World Bank report (2017), it is projected that urban water demand would increase by 60% to 100% in the biggest cities by 2050. Many studies were carried out in order to assess the groundwater quality in Moroccan cities and regions
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