An-Najah Staff

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of biological oxygen demand (BOD) on soil and drinking water in West Bank. This study will give us a conclusion about ground water contamination from solid waste and sewage water.

The study was performed on two soil samples brought from Jericho and Talkarem. The physical and chemical properties of the two soil samples were analyzed. The experiment was studied using physical simulation by using different soil column techniques and making some estimation using the amount of rainfall each year and the dimensions of those columns. The study was conducted between April and May, 2009. The concentration of BOD in the leachate was found to increase with time in both types of soil, in April the BOD concentration was higher in the leachate from Jericho soil than Talkarem soil, but in May the BOD concentration was higher in Talkarem soil than Jericho soil. The concentration of BOD in the leachate collected from blank column was decreasing with time, the dissolved oxygen (DO) was decreasing with increasing BOD concentration in both soils.

The total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration in the leachate was decreasing in both soils with time. The BOD concentration was increasing in the soil layers from top to the bottom in both soils (Talkarem and Jericho), but BOD was higher in Talkarem soil in each layer compared with that in Jericho soil layers. The TDS level in Talkarem soil layers was higher than in Jericho soil layers. The total nitrogen (TN) concentration in soil layers increases with depth and with time during water addition in the blank column but decreases in the soil layers in the columns where BOD was added.

Pharmaceutical pollution is one of the most serious types of environmental pollution attracting increasing attention and leading research studies in recent years. Because of their great impact on aquatic life, soil and underground water as emerging aquatic micro pollutants, it’s possible that they have been affecting the ecological system. In this study, two antibacterials, oxytetracycline and doxycycline were selected as examples of pharmaceuticals that are released into the environment and have major health impacts on our life, such as allergic reactions in the body, hives; difficulty in breathing. Both are marketed in Palestine either for the human pharmaceutical industry or the veterinary one. In this research, the adsorption behavior of both pharmaceuticals on soil, the effect of organic matter, the effect of magnesium chloride hepta hydrate addition on polluted soil, and their effect on characteristics of underground water, were all studied using the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that increasing organic matter increases the adsorption of oxytetracycline more than doxycycline, and that the composition of oxytetracycline complex with magnesium ion was more stable than that of doxycycline complex with magnesium. The study also revealed a higher concentration of doxycycline in leachate water from the soil than that of oxytetracycline, because doxycycline has higher solubility in water. It also showed a decrease in the concentrations for both substances over time in leachate water due to degradation. The degradation of both pharmaceuticals in soil and water would be produced by other substances which may be harmful, as the threat of their presence in the soil and groundwater would increase the resistance of bacteria in the soil. In other words, that would affect the natural properties of soil and groundwater, as well.