VERIFYING RIVER BANK FILTRATION APPLICABILITY IN IRAQ AGAINST IRAQI'S STANDARDS

Abstract

: In terms of the importance of constructing mega agricultural projects in Iraq and within the rising water conflicts among its surrounding neighbors, this research was initiated with the objective of investigating an innovate technique to improve water quality of the river. Primarily, literature was reviewed in the field of solutions to water scarcity. Apparent was that many techniques are available, from which R iver B ank F iltration "RBF" was selected to be investigated to inspect its applicability and to test it against Iraqi's standards. Field visits were carried out along Tigris River, where data was assembled and 24 wells were dug perpendicular to the river centerline along 4 lines, 500 m apart. Each line had 4 near-wells, 5 m apart, and 2 far-wells, 100 m apart, on each line. A sampling campaign was carried out in November 2021 and water samples were extracted from the 16 near-wells, 8 far-wells and Tigris River. The laboratory results were obtained; plotted onto graphs; analyzed and tested against Iraqi's standards. Based on the laboratory results analysis, apparent was that the water identities were within the Iraqi’s standards. Accordingly, the research results highlighted the necessity of RBF technique application to improve water quality of Tigris river. It was further recommended to validate the results