Abstract:
The project attempts to shed light on the environmental conditions in the city
of By bios and its close suburbs. With the aid of aerial photography of the area
and a number of monitoring equipment and test kits, an environmental survey
was carried out over a three-month time lapse. A one year weather monitoring
was performed, which included climatological data as well as air pollution
data of the following primary pollutants: CO, S02 and N02. Water analysis
was performed for both sea water (beach) and potable water. In addition, a
rough assessment was carried out for a number of agricultural sites. Air
pollution, irrigation water and soil analysis were carried out both inside and
outside the agricultural green houses.
The climate in the area is known to be typically Mediterranean. The air
pollution analysis, revealed above critical levels for both S02 and N02, but
dismissed pollution due to CO which showed levels to be below the critical
standard all year round. The beaches of Byblos appear to be of a fair quality in
terms of chemical pollutants, but the high bacterial count renders them unfit
for recreational purposes. Drinking water in Byblos is obtained from a number
of sources and either used directly from the source without any form of
treatment, or is subjected to minimal water treatment (filtration and
chlorination) at the 'Qartaba' and 'Jbeil' water treatment plants. Drinking
water from the sources generally seems to be of much better quality than the
water reaching the houses, which could be due to the bad quality of
distribution pipes and water storage tanks. Results from the analysis performed
at the agriculture stations depended to a great extent on the agricultural
practice adapted.
