The University of Jordan is currently preparing for the upcoming stormwater sampling campgains, which is planned to take place during the winter of 2023/2024. The sampling camgains is planned to take place in three tentative sub-watersheds in Amman (Figure 1). Sub-watersheds represent industrial, residential, and non-developed areas, while focusing on quality parameters, the parameters of interest will encompass polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in conjunction with conventional quality prameters used to characterize water. The selected sub-watersheds represent areas receiving the highest amounts of rainfall in Amman. Sampling devices will be installed at the outlets of the catchment areas, in which samples will be collected along the period of storm events. Moreover, data from air quality monitoring stations will be utilized in order to study the relation between PAHs and the particulate matter.
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Figure 1: left: Tentative Sub-Watersheds in Amman that will be targeted during the sampling campaigns (purple area includes industrial zone, green area is basically residential, light brown is basically undeveloped area); right: digital elevation model used to determine the outlet points in which sampling devices will be installed
Based on the acquired results, decentralized interventions will be proposed based a simplified hydrological model to define the most economic scale of decentralization, considering both size and quality. Proposed interventions will consider both house/building on site interventions up to clusters’ interventions. In both cases, obtained results will be transferred to Greater Amman Municipality and Jordan Institution for Standarization and Metrology with recommendations regarding the required modifications on building codes and water runoff reuse standards.
Authors: Maha Halalsheh, Hind Jasim, and Khaldoun Shatanawi (20/09/2023)