Groundwater pollution risk in the region of Bouira (north center of Algeria): origin and consequences on health

Abstract

Groundwater is often the preferred source for human consumption, irrigation and industry. In Algeria, many people count on well water for their drinking water supply and irrigation of agricultural lands; especially in rural areas, which is a strategic reserve of which quality must be assured. Groundwater protection requires the detection of origins of pollution and its consequences on the ecological system. The region of Bouirahas seen water-borne diseases occurrence caused by groundwater pollution, which has led us to look for the origin of this problem. It is considered like a high-risk area because it has recorded a large number of Toxi-food collective, Viral Hepatitis A, typhoid fever and Choléra cases in 2018. The study carried out based on the potential risks to human health and the GIS for a period of eight years (from 2008 to 2015), has allowed us to the elaboration of water-borne disease mapping of the whole region and to find that the most affected municipalitie sare: Bouira, Sour El Ghozlene, Lakhdaria and Ain Bessem .The correlation between these diseases and the irrigated perimeters by wadis is very strong in this municipalities.