The Impact of Za?atari Refugee Camp on the Water Quality in Amman-Zarqa Basin
Za?atari camp is the largest refugee camp in Jordan. It was first established in 2012 to host Syrian
refugees. Currently the camp hosts more than 81,000 refugees, with no proper sanitary system
which might pose a major threat to surface resources in the area. An investigation was done at
Za?atari refugees? camp to find the impact of refugees settling on surface and groundwater quality.
Surface water quality of surface runoff generated from thirty rain fall events were collected during
the winter season of 2013/2014 from the major Wadi that passes through the camp and small
ponds within the camp after the rainfall event. The collected samples were analyzed for acidity
(pH), the electrical connectivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), nutrients ( ?
3 NO and 3?
4 PO ) and
selected heavy metals (Mn, Cd, Zn, Pb and Ni) in addition to biological oxygen demand (BOD5),
chemical oxygen demand (COD) and intestinal worms (Total Coliform, E. cali). The results showed
that there are significant variations in the EC as well as with TDS between the sites due to fluctuating
amounts of water used for different activities within the camp as it was highest in the center
of the camp where most of the refugees settle decreasing away from the center. The pH values
were within the specifications of the World Health Organization and the Jordanian Standards. For
nutrients, nitrate concentration was low with high phosphate ions which are most probably from
detergents origin.