Air Pollution Impact on Rainwater Quality in Tripoli City-Libya

Ali Geath Eljadid; Mofida Ahmed  Omran

doi:10.54172/1h6kpy80

Authors

Ali Geath Eljadid University of Tripoli -Faculty of Science, Atmospheric science department. Author
Mofida Ahmed Omran Educational Inspection Administration, Directorate of Education, Tripoli-Libya Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54172/1h6kpy80

Keywords:

Air pollution, water Quality, rainfall, Acid rain

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the evaluation of the air pollution impacts on rainwater quality in the city of Tripoli during the rainy season extended from December 2023 to May 2024. A total of 167 samples were collected from seven selected locations, including two urban sites (Tripoli Center and Ras-Hassan area), in addition to five other sites representing the suburban areas which is (Souq Al-Jumaa, Al-Sabaa, Ain-Zara, Al-Khalla, and Al-Hadba Al-Mashrou). Samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrate (NO₃⁻), nitrite (NO₂⁻), sulfate (SO₄²⁻), chloride (Cl⁻), bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻), carbonate (CO₃²⁻), and total dissolved solids (TDS). The results showed that the levels of air pollutants containing acids and salts in the city rainwater were low and within the normal range according to the Libyan Water Quality Standards (2015) and the World Health Organization (2017). It was also found that, the highest levels of pollution were in dense urban areas, while they were low in suburban areas. Looking at the chronology, pollution rates peaked during April followed by May, reflecting the seasonal effects of weather factors, and the pollution during the spring is higher than in winter, due to the decrease in the number of rainfall and consequently the lower rates of wet sedimentation, rising temperatures, in addition to increasing the chances of exposure to windborne dust, which contains mineral, calcareous and salt particles, and a decrease in the rate of diffusion of marine salts. However, the city's rainwater remains within safe limits for various uses in drinking, agriculture and industry.

References

Latif, K. H, (2011); (2011). A qualitative study of rainfall in Tikrit City. Tikrit Journal of Engineer-ing Sciences, 18(1), 69–79. 18(1).

Abdulghani, Reham. (2024). (2024). The acid rains. Journal of Meteorology, Egypt, 73, 17–21. Https://doi.org/10.21608/arsad.2024.376195.

Almdny, A. H. (2008). (2008). Assessment of the quality and quantity of harvested rainfall from dif-ferent catchment systems: Case study in northwest Libya. In Proceedings of the 3rd Interna-tional Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments & the 1st Arab Water Forum (pp. 1–10). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Awad, F., Al-Qassim, H., & Al-Sousi, A. (2024). (2024). Assessment of rainwater quality from col-lected rainwater and its treatment requirements in different areas of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar. Faculty of Science, University of Omar Al-Mukhtar & University of Derna. Https://doi.org/10.62341/fhas3430.

BSC. (2020). (2020). Bureau of Statistics and Census. Population estimates for 2020. Libya: Bureau of Statistics and Census. Https://bsc.ly/.

Chen, W., Lu, X., Xian, C., Sun, X., Chen, Y., Hu, M., Li, G., & Fung, J. C. H. (2025). (2005). Es-timation of Ca2+ wet deposition in the Northern Hemisphere by use of CNN deep-learning model. Ecological Indicators, 176, 113684. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113684.

Cheng, C. S., & Campbell, M., et al. (2007). (2007). A synoptic climatological approach to assess climatic impact on air quality in south-central Canada. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 182(1), 131–148. Https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9485-2.

Drever, J. I. (1997). (1997). The geochemistry of natural waters: Surface and groundwater environ-ments (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall.

Eiblou, G. E. M. S., Atiya, M., & Basyouni, A. R. (2024). Characteristics of rainfall in Misrata Mu-nicipality and its impact on vegetation cover. Scientific Journal of the Faculty of Arts, Misrata University, Issue 55, April 2024. Https://journals.ekb.eg/article_393980.html.

Eljadid, A. G. (2007). (2007). North Libya between arid climate conditions and rainfall changes. Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 17(1). National Bureau for Research and Develop-ment, Libya.

Farag, I., Algeblawi, H. S., & Aziz, A. (2022). (2022). Detecting the influence of urban expansion on vegetation intensity in northeast Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya using remote sensing and GIS techniques. In Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Libya (pp. 1–15). Springer. Https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97810-5_1.

Ge, B., Liu, J., Zhang, Q., & Li, Y. (2016). (2016). Source identification of acid rain rising over Northeast China: Observed evidence and model simulation. Atmospheric Environment, 127, 123–134. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.12.034.

Ghazali, A. M., & Sadeg, S. A. (2012). (2012). Water supply alternatives for the Tripoli area, North-Western Libya. In S. Hagen, M. Chopra, & K. Madani (Eds.), Water Supply Alternatives for the Tripoli Area, North-Western Libya (pp. 1–10). Spring-er.https://henry.baw.de/bitstreams/2a278ebc-d61d-4aa4-84f5-adfc700312c5/download.

Habeebullah, T. M. (2013). An investigation of the effects of meteorology on air pollution in Makkah. Assiut University Bulletin for Environmental Researches, 16(1), 64–85. Https://doi.org/10.21608/auber.2013.148462.

Harrison, R. M., & Van Grieken, R. E. (Eds.). (1998. (1998).). Atmospheric particles. Wiley.

Hem, J. D. (1985). (1985). Study and interpretation of the chemical characteristics of natural water (3rd ed.). U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2254.

Huang, Y., Yang, J., Liu, C., Jing, R., & Lu, Q. (2024). (2024). Spatial and temporal variations in rainwater chemistry in a rapid urbanization area of Shenzhen, China. Atmosphere, 15(12), 1536. Https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15121536.

Huo, M., Sun, Q., Bai, Y., Li, J., Xie, P., Liu, Z., & Wang, X. (2012). (2012). Influence of airborne particles on the acidity of rainwater during wash-out process. Atmospheric Environment, 59, 192–201. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.05.035.

IOM. (2024). (2024). Migration, environment and climate change in Libya: Country report. Interna-tional Organization for Migration. Https://mena.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl686/files/documents/2024-07/migration-environment-climate-change-in-libya.pdf.

Liu, Y., Chen, W., & Zhang, L. (2015). (2015). Chemical composition and seasonal variation of ac-id deposition in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Biogeosciences, 12, 1561–1574. Https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/12/1561/2015/bg-12-1561-2015.pdf.

LWS. (2015). (2015). National Center for Standards and Metrology. List of approved Libyan stand-ards Drinking water, Standard document. Libya. Https://www.alcpo.org.ly/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/.pdf.

Maauf, N., Mansour, F., & Aziz, Z. (2024). (2024). The development of a framework to improve ma-terials management on Libyan construction sites. Https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31082.12487.

Mas-Pla, J., & Menció, A. (2019). (2019). Groundwater nitrate pollution and climate change: Learn-ings from a water balance-based analysis of several aquifers in a western Mediterranean re-gion (Catalonia). Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 26(3), 2184–2202. Https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1859-8.

Murillo, R., Villalobos-Córdoba, D., Monteiro, L. R., Villalobos-Forbes, M., Sánchez-Gutiérrez, R., Cotrim, M. E. B., & Matiatos, I. (2023). (2023). Esquivel-Hernández, G., Sánchez- Explor-ing the acid neutralizing effect in rainwater collected at a tropical urban area: Central Valley, Costa Rica. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 14(9), Article 101845. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2023.101845.

Rennenberg, H., & Gessler, A. (2001). (2001). Acid rain: Effects on forest ecosystems. In Ecological Studies (Vol. 172, pp. 1–15). Springer.

Seinfeld, J. H., & Pandis, S. N. (2016). (2016). Atmospheric chemistry and physics: From air pollu-tion to climate change (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Sen, Z., & Eljadid, A. G. (1999). (1999). Rainfall distribution function for Libya and rainfall predic-tion. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 44(5), 665–680. Https://doi.org/10.1080/02626669909492266.

World Health Organization. (2017). (2017). Air quality guidelines: Global update 2017: Particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. World Health Organization. Https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241511353.

Zekry, Y. M. (2005). The Climate of Libya: An Applied Study of Physiological Climate Patterns. موقع بحوث. https://b7oth.net/مناخ-ليبيا-دراسة-تطبيقية-لأنماط-المنا/

Zeng, J., Han, G., & Zhang, L. (2024). (2024). Rainwater records of atmospheric nitrogen-bearing pollutants in a megacity: Implications for source apportionment. Science of The Total Envi-ronment, 876, 162646. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162646.