Engineering and Technology Journal

Bottled drinking water may subject to physical, chemical and biological contamination due to water resources, technical process, storage and marketing facilities. Heavy metals seem to be the most important pollutants of bottled drinking water for various reasons and these metals such as lead, chromium, cadmium, and others may have several public health impacts. The current study was designed to assess the bottled water content of several heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in 38 samples of local and imported bottled drinking water. Also other parameters such as pH, EC were examined. A total of 38 trade mark bottled drinking water of both locally produced and imported samples were collected from different Iraqi towns for the period November 2010 and June 2011. The results of all examined variables were within Iraqi standard of drinking water except for Mn, Pb, and Zn where they found in some local bottled water samples higher than those of Iraqi standard. Also some imported samples had Pb content greater than that of Iraqi standard. However, further chemical and biological tests were needed

The multiple Compton backscattering (MCBS) technique has been used to investigate the detection and imaging corrosion under the insulation pipe. An energy source with a mono – energy 0.662MeV of 137Cs has been used. Gamma ray photons have been allowed to be incident vertically on the insulator pipe whose outside diameter, wall and asbestos insulation thickness are (28, 1, 4)cm respectively. The steel pipe has a corrosion defect with a diameter (8) cm. The count rate of scattered γ – photons with scattering angle in the range (130 – 140) degrees has been collected by NaI(Tl) detector with different radius. Assuming the source and detector locations are in the same side from the pipe. Monte Carlo simulation has been written in FORTRAN95 language programming to follow the history of photons.
This study provides the ability of this technique to detect and imaging the corrosion under the insulator pipes. The radius of detector which gives good results for corrosion detection and imaging is 6cm among five different selected radius

The study of activated pistachio shells carbon as a low cost sorbent for removing dye has drawn attention of various researchers working in this field. In the present work, pistachio shells carbon (PSC) in the form of powder was investigated for removing dyes taking Janus Green B as a model system. The adsorbent was made from pistachio shells procured from north of Iraq and was investigated under variable system parameters such as dose of adsorbent, pH, initial dye concentration, particle size and agitation time. An amount of 1.5 g/l of (PSC) could remove 99.7 % of the dye from an aqueous solution of 50 ppm with the agitation time 120 min. The well Known Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied for the equilibrium adsorption data and the various isotherm parameters were evaluated. The results indicate that activated pistachio shells could be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon in wastewater treatment for the removal of color and dyes

The specific activity of natural radionuclides in (18) soil samples collected from
antiquities area of Girsu city in Dhi-Qar Governorate (31.0459863N, 46.2534257E)
in southern Iraq have been studied and evaluated. Experimental results were obtained
by using a gamma ray spectrometer analysis system consists
of a scintillation detector Sodium Iodide activated by Thallium NaI(Tl) of (3"×3")
crystal dimension at the laboratory of radiation detection and measurement in Science
Collage, University of Kufa. The spectrometer has been calibrated for energy by
acquiring a spectrum from four standard sources of gamma radiations supplied by
spectrum techniques (LLC). The measuring time of all soil samples is (18000
seconds), it was found that, for Girsu city the soil specific activity ranges from
(22.68±3.94 to 14.69±2.24) Bq/kg for 146
238
92U , from (17.41±2.23 to 11.23±2.34)
Bq/kg for 142
232
90Th and from (346.49±10.68 to 266.96±10.55) Bq/kg for 21
40
19K . The
results have been compared with the acceptable data of the worldwide literatures. In
order to evaluate the radiological hazard of the natural radioactivity, the radium
equivalent activity (Raeq), the gamma absorbed dose rate (D), the annual effective
dose rate and the both (external and internal) hazard index have been calculated and
compared with the acceptable values of the worldwide average (UNSCEAR, 2000).

One of the serious and growing potential problems in most large urban areas is the shortage of land for waste disposal. Although there are some efforts to reduce and recover the waste, disposal in landfills is still the most common method for solid wastes destination. Optimized siting decision reduces negative effects to residents living in its vicinity, thereby enhancing the overall sustainability associated with the life cycle of a landfill. In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in Kerbala are determined by using the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and multi- criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Eight input digital map layers including urban centers, Hamlets, industrial areas, sub roads, wetlands, pipe line, soil characteristics, and surface water are produced using a geographical information system. Simple additive weighing method (SAW) within (MCDA) is used to analyze the prepared maps and produce final suitability map. According to the digital maps produced by this method, the analysis results in selection of one landfill site located in the north of Kerbala city. The area of landfill site selected is 6,800,000 m2 and, its volume is 20,400,000 m3

Water contamination is any change in biological properties of water that have a harmful effect on living things. From the beginning of April 2010 till the end of December 2011, One thousand five hundred sixty seven of tap water samples from different parts of Baghdad city were collected, and examined bacteriologic ally by traditional method for detection of pathogenic bacteria. For further detection the molecular study carried out to detected the virulence genes of pathogenic isolates , five isolates of Salmonella spp.gave positive results for the invA gene and prgKgene , three isolates of non-O1 V.cholera were positive for omp Wgene and yielded negative results for the ctxAB gene and the zotgenes but, one of them gave positive result for the tcp gene. Thirteen isolates of Aeromonashydrophila gave positive results for Fla and laf flagellin genes.

Lead (Pb) concentration in urban soils was measured in AL-Waziriya District in Baghdad city for both; an industrial area of batteries industry and the residential area around it which may be affected by the emissions caused by production processes of the industrial activities.
A hundred samples were collected from the top soil and analyzed for Pb
concentration using Adsorption Spectrometry method.
Geostatistical methods were used to study spatial structure distribution of Pb in this area besides using environmental indices (Geoaccumulation index Igeo and single potential ecological risk factor Ei) to evaluate contamination degree in the region. Results showed that the examined sites are quite large in which Pb concentration values higher than the world regulatory values regarding soil pollution with it and identifying hot-spot areas. These polluted areas could create a significant health risk for human beings and vegetation in the near future.

Fifty blood samples of leukemia patients were analyzed to detect the genetic alterations associated with disease. The results showed a high significant DNA damage leukemia group. A significant (P< 0.05) increase in MN is observed in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) patients (0.012 ± 0.00056, 0.014± 0.00049 MN / cell respectively) and decreased Nuclear Division Index(NDI) level (1.615 ± 0.0052, 1.597± 0.0039 respectively ) when compared with control group (0.001 ± 0.00016 ; 1.845 ± 0.0091 respectively). DNA damage detected in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients with micronucleus (MN) is confirmed with statistically significantly higher COMET parameters (tail length =5.11±0.85, 5.66± 0.91; % DNA mean in tail= 0.072 ± 0.041%, 0.082±0.039 and tail moment=0.00044 ± 6.87, 0.00052±5.99 respectively). The results indicated that the leukemia patients were exposed to a high genotoxicity which damaged the lymphocytes DNA

This study was designed to assess farmers' knowledge level regarding practices of sustainable agriculture development in Baghdad Governorate. Comparing between fields which they were as: water security, production inputs provision, environment protection, soil surface protection. Present study was conducted in Abu-Ghraib & Mahmudiya division, sample size defined as 133 respondents farmers from six selected villages were interviewed for information by questioner consist of sixteen test paragraph . Findings reveal that farmers possesses highest knowledge level of the paragraph “drip irrigation technology save more water as compared to other method of irrigation”. at rates 4.70 ± 0.4 whereas they had least knowledge about of two paragraph" protection wildlife" and " production of Alsailj& Hay as feed of animals." at rates 0.5, 0.5 ± 0.09 ± 0.03 respectively . While farmers possesses highest knowledge level of field Water security at rate 2.98 whereas they had the least knowledge field Protection of the environment at rates 1.30 ,our recommendation is to build programs to meet the needs of sustainable agriculture development practices knowledge of framers and giving farmers the opportunity to participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation

Petroleum-derived hydrocarbon wastes are one of the most dangerous aquatic environmental pollutants, the production and export of oil are regarded as the main sources of these wastes. Discharging of the oil refinery wastes to the aquatic ecosystems can cause hazardous and harmful effects to its food chain levels especially algae, depending on the released concentrations. The present study experiments were conducted with axenic culture of the green algae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus dimorphus. Different concentrations of the oil wastes (25, 50, 75 and 100 %) from three selected locations (SO1, SO8 and SO12) at the refinery treatment unit of Al-Dura refinery were prepared.
Decreasing in the algal growth rates associated with increasing in the doubling time of the cells were detected for the both strains when treated with tested concentrations of the oil refinery during the exposure period that took 96 hr. The reduction was clear with C. vulgaris, but it was gradual in the case of S. dimorphus. An accelerating increasing in the algal growth inhibition averages accompanied with increasing in the wastes concentrations as well as time of exposure. The differences in the calculated EC50 values for both strains indicate differences in the toxic effects of the oil wastes in addition to their sensitivity towards such pollutants.

In this paper, two landfill disposal sites proposed by the Mosul municipality were compared, assessed and designated the east and west landfill sites, respectively. Forty selected parameters related to landfill site suitability were used for the comparison. The suitability of the site for each parameter was graded as “poor,” “fair,” “good,” or “excellent,” depending on the adequacy of the parameter relative to guidelines and landfill criteria. The proposed sites appeared to meet most of the criteria required for similar facilities. Based on the soil characteristics, groundwater quality, area capacity, and other specific parameters, however, the proposed east landfill site is superior to the west landfill site. Mixed and area method models seemed suitable for these sites. The results indicated that soil cover is urgently needed for the west site and, to a lesser degree, the east site. Calculations based on Iraqi experience in landfill construction revealed that the east landfill site can be operated for 10 years, with 7 m of waste high. For the west landfill site, the height of waste for the same period approaches 15 m. Due to the complexity of the site topography, high cost burden, and lack of experience in implementing such project, it would be necessary to operate this site for 5 years with a waste height of 6.5 m. Importantly, the findings of the study reveal no evidence for potential groundwater contamination. It is concluded that construction of a proper sanitary landfill site for integrated solid waste management is a major necessity and should be a priority for the city of Mosul.

In this paper, the author aims to introduce the hazard contamination in Al Tuwaitha nuclear site using GIS technique. The contamination level of 137Cs and 60Co, from different soil samples of the nuclear reactor surrounding areas has investigated and compared to the international standards of UNSCEAR 2000,. The results show that distribution of 137Cs and 60Co indicates a relatively asymmetrical distribution tailing slightly towards higher concentration. However, the activity level of 137Cs and 60Co in the soil samples of the study area exhibit large variability. Which were above the suggested normal environmental levels

The objective of the present work was to assess the distribution of radon in the University of Technology buildings, Baghdad - Iraq and to identify the effective dose of radon exposure to the staff using passive dosimeter (SSNTD) CR-39. One hundred CR-39 dosimeters were distributed over different buildings in the University campus according to the number of floors area. The exposure time started from December 2012, and the dosimeters were left inside buildings for 40 days. Only 93 dosimeters were collected, while the remaining 7 were considered lost. The average concentrations were calculated in units of Bqm-3, for each sample in each building, and then are repeated after grouping in each floor of the same building. The average radon concentrations per building and at the university as a whole were also calculated.
Radon concentrations were found to vary from 80.1 to 416.7 Bqm-3. The highest radon concentration with a mean value of 416.7 Bqm-3 was found atuniversity press section building, while the lowest radon concentration was found at the welding division 2 building with a mean value of 80.1 Bqm-3. The average value of radon concentration at the university was found to have the value of 181.9 Bqm-3 which is less than the recommended value of 200 Bqm-3 UNSCEAR [18].
Dose rate (in μSv/h), annual dose rate (in mSv/y & WLM/y), cumulative dose (in mSv& WLM) and cancer risk were also calculated. It was found that the university staffs are exposed annually to 2.083 mSv which equal to 0.231 Working Level Month (WLM) from radon gas and its short-lived daughters. Hence, a person takes on the

This paper describes a laboratory study comparing three coagulants (alum, ferric chloride, and ferric sulfate) to determine which coagulant would not only remove NOM but DBP precursors as well. Experiments were conducted to compare the effectiveness of three coagulants in removing DBPs precursors from raw water samples. The results show that the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) which is mean NOM here, was dependent on the coagulant type and was enhanced with increasing coagulant dose, but ferric chloride, and ferric sulfate have no further considerable effect in case of increasing to high levels. For all the treated samples coagulation with ferric chloride proved to be more effective than alum and ferric sulfate at similar doses and the mean values of treatment efficiencies were 30%, 37%, and 45% by ferric sulfate, alum, and ferric chloride respectively. The range of TOC removal rates obtained using ferric sulfate (18-48%), (14-50%) for alum, and (21-59%) for ferric chloride. Ferric chloride was therefore considered the better chemical for enhancing the coagulation process.Fair removals of turbidity were observed (86%) for ferric chloride, (78%) for alum, and 65% for ferric sulfate. Mean TOC removal using alum was determined to be 61% and much more than results of water coagulation by ferric sulfate which was reported to be 53% in experiments performed for treating Euphrates river water.
Among the Trihalomethanes compounds, chloroform was the common detected Trihalomethanes in the samples collected from Euphrates Riverwere generally below the guideline values, but some samples displayed levels which exceeded the level of WHO Standards for chlorinated compounds. Based on preliminary jar test experiments, ferric chloride at concentrations of 20-30 mg/L was found as an efficient coagulant for disinfection by- products and turbidity reduction.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the optimum operating conditions which yield the best performance of the photocatalysis process for the degradation of the synthetic dye in wastewater. The solar reactor was made up of a flat-plate colorless glass of dimensions of (1000 x 750 x 4 mm). The base of the reactor was made of aluminum. This geometry enables the light entering the liquid film from almost any direction to be reflected and can also be employed for the photocatalytic reaction. Various operating parameters were studied to investigate the behavior of the designed reactor like initial dye concentration (C=10-50 mg/L), loading of catalyst (CTiO2=300-800 mg/L), suspension flow rate (QL=0.3-2.0 L/min), pH of solution (5-9), and H2O2 concentration (CH2O2=200-1000 mg/L). The operating parameters were optimized to give higher efficiency to the reactor performance. Optimum parameters of the photocatalysis process were loading of catalyst (400mg/L), suspension flow rate (0.5L/min), H2O2 concentration (400mg/L), and pH=5. The designed reactor when operating at optimum conditions offered a degradation of MV up to 0.9527 within one hours of operation time, while a conversion of 0.9995 was obtained in three hours. The product water was analyzed using UV-spectrophotometer and FTIR. Analysis of the results confirmed that produced water from the solar reactor system could be safely recycled and reuse

This paper falls into the studying of an aerated grit chamber (AGCs) within the Al-Rustamyah sewage treatment plant-third extension (50 km south of Baghdad). This treatment plant is suffering some troubles associated with inefficient grit chambers due to lack of continuous maintenance resulting in abnormal grit deposits in the subsequent units of the treatment plant, especially digesters tanks. Field tests on these AGCs were conducted for evaluating their operating performance and their efficiency of removing TSS and oil and grease content during 30 days. Samples were taken from the inlet and outlet of each AGCs every 48 hour and were analyzed. The performance of these AGCs was also re-evaluated again by plotting the velocity distribution across a chosen chamber, at four sections perpendicular to the flow in the AGC. Certain operating problems were observed in the existing AGCs as a result of the experiments.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the shorter time required for proper determination of the total dissolved salts in soil. The usual test takes 3 to 4 days to measure the total dissolved salts in the sample. Eighteen samples were gathered from different sites in Baghdad city. The physical properties were determined experimentally. The testing program was done by two stages; the first stage included measurement of ordinary T.D.S (series A) while the other stages included measurement of the magnitude of total dissolved salts at different times.
It was found that after 24 hours of soaking the soil in distilled water, the total dissolved salts will reach about 95 % of the actual amount (after 3 days). The usual procedure takes at lest three to four days which is very long time if there is no time or conductivity device. Therefore, a proposed procedure is submitted to estimate the T.D.S. after 24 hours which revealed very good agreement with the actual values. The results of T.D.S. measured after 24 hour give a suitable compatibility with those measured by the ordinary method after 3 days where the coefficient of determination R2 equals (0.918).
An expression was determined which can be used to estimate the T.D.S. from values measured after 24 hours only

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC/UV) and gas chromatography methods to determination of formaldehyde in bottled drinking water were used. Here, GC method was used to determine quantitatively formaldehyde using TCD (thermal conductivity detector) followed by analysis by HPLC / UV , while sensitive UV detection can be non-specific, and is subject to many interferences , and the analysis time can be long , as well as, some laboratories do not have equipments or experts for HPLC analysis . Therefore, gas chromatography method provides an alternative to HPLC, eliminating the need for a solvent mobile phase. Resolution and sensitivity are good for aldehydes evaluated.
Results of this study indicate that the detection for formaldehyde was good even of low concentration in GC. Ten bottled drinking water samples collected from various markets were analyzed. The results were below the guide – line for drinking water quality by WHO (900 ppb).

This study was carried out during (2012-2013) on the water network of "Al-Muqdadiah"City and the water intake from"Mahroot"River, because this study believes of field work and investigation of microbial contamination and chemical pollution. Some important parameters in `HZour study: Electric Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolve Solids (TDS),Hydrogen Potential (pH), Total Hardness (TH), Chloride (Cl),Magnesium (Mg),Calcium (Ca), Lead (Pb), Chrome (Cr),Cadmium (Cd), Most
Probable Number (MPN),Were selected and examined to measure and evaluate the levels of parameters of microbial contamination and chemical pollution.The results indicated no evidence of microbial contamination in net and treated water in the plant except the water intake from the river. Negative result of cadmium and positive of Lead and variation of chrome levels. However the result showed increasing of total hardness, total dissolve salts, electric conductivity, with normal values for chloride and pH.

This study included acute and chronic effects for cypermethrin pesticide in Cyprinus carpio . Eight concentration between 0.005 and 0.0007 mg/L was used in the acute exposure for 24 to 96 hours to determination of median lethal concentration ( LC50 ),lethal concentration for the complete number ( LC100 ), non lethal concentratin ( LC0 ) and Safety concentration (SC ), also behavioral changes was used as a standard of those effects. Whereas two concentration 0.0007 and 0.0008 mg/L were used in the chronic exposure for 60 days , through it clinical signs (behavioral , weight and histological changes ) and histopathological changes were used as a standard to observed these effects through the study period. The value of LC50 for carp fish were 0.0025 , 0.00231 , 0.00214 , 0.00212 mg/L for 24, 48, 72, 96 hrs respectively. of exposure to cypermethrin pesticide concentrations respectively . The LC100 values for 24 hrs. of exposure were 0.005 mg/L while LC0 values for 24 hrs. of exposure were 0.0008 mg/L .The safety concentration values were 0.000231,
0.0003465 mg/L . Behavioral changes were recorded more effects in high concentrations than it in low concentrations . The chronic exposure showed no any behavioral changes was recorded except on the fifth days at 0.0007 mg concentration . Moreover the growth was reduction in each of the concentrations that used and show more effect at the second concentration . Histopathological changes were showed clearly at some carp members such as : liver , kidney , intestines, spleen and muscle that exposed to a pesticide at 0.0008 mg/L concentration only

Presently, generated solid wastes are considered a beneficial good and not merely unwanted materials that to be disposed of solid waste. A new type of industry began to emerge in the developed countries called -Solid Waste Industries -. This industries are worthy to be adapted in Iraq and other Arabic countries is dealing in proper way to generated solid waste.
Mosul city produces as much as (915 Tons) a day. This amount is likely to increase to (1620 Tons) a day in year 2020.
Composition and characteristics of Mosul city is approximately similar to those predominated in other countries . Food solid waste constitutes 68.17%, paper 9.6%, glass, plastic and aluminum cans represents 2.61%, 5.29%, and 2.27% respectively. Other residuals waste such as yards, rubber, wood, do not exceed 1%.
Land filling of this huge amounts of generated solid waste will need large areas for disposal. This study stresses on introducing integrated solid waste management components -4 Rs- i.e., reducing, reusing, recycling, recovery energy and composting. These components -when applied- will save huge financial, economic, healthy, and social benefits. Area needed for land filling will turned very small. Besides, employment of people and improve their livings are considered