Assessment of groundwater quality in the Gaza strip by using GIS

The study aimed to use GIS systems to create and publish digital maps to assess the quality of groundwater in the Gaza Strip from 2007 to 2015. It also explained the ability of GIS to study water and its characteristics and assess the general status of groundwater. A strong relationship was found between the increase in population and the steady increase in the volume of pollution and between water pollution with chemicals (nitrates - sodium -chloride - potassium - magnesium - water hardness - dissolved solids - calcium) and diseases (liver - kidneys - nervous system). The study also showed a significant increase in the level of pollution of the chemical properties of drinking water, especially (nitrates - chlorides - dissolved solids), which reached more than five times what was determined by the World Health Organization standards for water. Ten different wells were selected to study the impact of the current situation scenario on the concentration of chemical elements in the future. This scenario indicates that there is a relationship between the water level and the concentration of chemical elements in the aquifer, and therefore the concentration rates in the southern regions of the Gaza Strip are higher than in the northern regions. The concentrations of chemical elements were predicted during the next 35 years depending on the population growth rate in the strip and the concentrations of chemical elements from 2016 to 2021 using the MT3DMS code with stress periods from 2025 to 2055. The transit model was run for this scenario as the current situation, and thus the result was an increased significant levels of groundwater pollution with the chemical elements.