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Spatial and temporal assessment of surface water quality in the Arka River, Akkar, Lebanon

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Abstract

Surface water quality monitoring constitutes a crucial and important step in any water quality management system. Twenty-three physicochemical and microbiological parameters were assessed in surface water samples collected from the Arka River located in the Akkar District, north of Lebanon. Eight sampling locations were considered along the river and seven sampling campaigns were performed in order to evaluate spatial and temporal influences. The extraction of relevant information from this relatively large data set was done using principal component analysis (PCA), being a very well established chemometric tool in this field. In a first step, extracted PCA loadings revealed the implication of several physicochemical parameters in the discriminations and trends highlighted by PCA scores, mainly due to soil leaching and seawater intrusion. However, further investigations showed the implication of organic and bacterial parameters in the discrimination of stations in the Akkar flatland. These discriminations probably refer to anthropogenic pollution coming from the agricultural area and the surrounding villages. Specific ultraviolet absorption (SUVA) indices confirmed these findings since values decreased for samples collected across the villages and the flatland, indicating an increase in anthropogenic dissolved organic matter. This study will hopefully help the national and local authorities to ameliorate the surface water quality management, enabling its proper use for irrigation purposes.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Michel Afram, PDG of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) and Mr. Michel Issa El Khoury, responsible of LARI, Abdeh station, for their valuable help in accomplishing this work.

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Author notes

  1. Claude Daou

    Present address: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences II, Lebanese University, 90656, Jdeideth El Matn, Fanar, Lebanon

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Analysis Department, Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 90-1965, Jdeideth El Matn, Fanar, Lebanon

    Claude Daou

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences II, Lebanese University, 90656, Jdeideth El Matn, Fanar, Lebanon

    Rony Nabbout & Amine Kassouf

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  1. Claude Daou
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Correspondence to Claude Daou.

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Daou, C., Nabbout, R. & Kassouf, A. Spatial and temporal assessment of surface water quality in the Arka River, Akkar, Lebanon. Environ Monit Assess 188, 684 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5686-4

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