Environmental assessment of Byblos city and its close suburbs. (c2004)

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.