TITLE:
The Impact of Za’atari Refugee Camp on the Water Quality in Amman-Zarqa Basin
AUTHORS:
Sura Al-Harahsheh, Rida Al-Adamat, Seraj Abdullah
KEYWORDS:
Jordan, Refugee, Za’atari Camp, Amman-Zarqa Basin, Heavy Metals
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
15,
2015
ABSTRACT: Za’atari camp is the
largest refugee camp in Jordan. It was first established in 2012 to host Syrian
refugees. Currently the camp hosts more than 81,000 refugees, with no proper sanitary
system which might pose a major threat to surface resources in the area. An investigation
was done at Za’atari refugees’ camp to find the impact of refugees settling on surface
and groundwater quality. Surface water quality of surface runoff generated from
thirty rain fall events were collected during the winter season of 2013/2014 from
the major Wadi that passes through the camp and small ponds within the camp after
the rainfall event. The collected samples were analyzed for acidity (pH), the electrical
connectivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), nutrients (NO3- and PO43-) and selected heavy metals
(Mn, Cd, Zn, Pb and Ni) in addition to biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical
oxygen demand (COD) and intestinal worms (Total Coliform, E. cali). The results
showed that there are significant variations in the EC as well as with TDS between
the sites due to fluctuating amounts of water used for different activities within
the camp as it was highest in the center of the camp where most of the refugees
settle decreasing away from the center. The pH values were within the specifications
of the World Health Organization and the Jordanian Standards. For nutrients, nitrate
concentration was low with high phosphate ions which are most probably from detergents
origin.