PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF GROUNDWATER TABLE RISING IN AJDABIYA, NORTHEAST LIBYA

Saleh Emhanna

doi:10.46717/igj.53.2f.3ms-2020-12-26

Abstract

The rising groundwater levels in Ajdabiya city have been considered one of the critical issues that the city suffered for years, where it is attributed to a lot of undesirable environmental and physical effects. Deterioration of infrastructure facilities led to health and economic consequences in different areas. The study aims to identify the causes of effects and feasible strategies to mitigate them. There are many causes that led to rising the groundwater level such as the leakage of domestic water pipeline and sewage network. It noted an absence of a rainwater drainage network and the adoption of only surface water for daily life usages. Furthermore, never ever the groundwater has been not exploited, which led to upward seepage more and more. Ten groundwater samples have been collected to conduct specific criteria which proved the mixing between the groundwater and sewage. Many projects can be adapted to maintain the groundwater upward seepage and manage the water supplies in the area using the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water to optimize the water demand. The most important is avoiding all pollutants whether surface or/and subsurface by maintaining the sewage network and drainages. For a more comprehensive image, it is recommended to adopt geotechnical tools before suggesting the management plan

Highlights

Groundwater has long been and continues to serve as a reliable source of water for a variety of purposes, including industrial and domestic uses and irrigation
This study aims to review the following: 1. Highlighting the impact of rising groundwater on the environment, human health, roads and infrastructure facilities in Ajdabiya city
Change in precipitation and Lack of rain water drainage networks Groundwater recharge occurs naturally where the earth materials are sufficiently permeable to allow water to move downward through them. It occurs most in unconfined aquifers where water provided by precipitation moves downward from land surface until the water reaches the water table

Summary

Introduction

Groundwater has long been and continues to serve as a reliable source of water for a variety of purposes, including industrial and domestic uses and irrigation. Hadi and Alwan (2020) mentioned that the levels of shallow groundwater depend on several factors such as the topography, type of the soil, Wastewater sources, land use nature, and rainfall amount in the area. A trend of rising groundwater level has been anecdotally observed in Ajdabiya city over the last 10 years. Associated with this rising groundwater is the potential for several geohazards to occur, which can cause significant nuisance and cost through damage to the built and urban environments. Insufficient data increases the risk to the aquifer system and associated groundwater dependent environment as well as causing problems for current and future urban development (Foster and Hirata, 2011). This study aims to review the following: 1. Highlighting the impact of rising groundwater on the environment, human health, roads and infrastructure facilities in Ajdabiya city

Objectives

Results

Conclusion