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Groundwater contamination in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: a review

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Abstract

Groundwater quality levels are currently deteriorating in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries due to excessive surface and subsurface human activities. Agricultural and industrial activities, landfill seepage and seawater intrusion have been attributed to the deterioration of groundwater quality in GCC states. Such a deterioration of groundwater quality could affect water security in the region, including human health and the ecosystem. Therefore, this review aims to identify the key causes of groundwater contamination across the GCC countries from the published literature. In addition, the review summarizes the major components of the groundwater contaminants across the GCC countries. The results have shown that heavy metals, several cations and anions are the leading cause of groundwater pollution. In most cases, the level of metals and ion contaminants exceeds both the local and international water quality standards. The results have observed the presence of high levels of coliform and radioactive elements in groundwater, especially Uranium and Radium, thereby posing additional risk to human health through consumption. Considering the scarcity of freshwater resources in GCC, urgent actions are required from the decision-makers and relevant regulatory bodies to set up and implement long-term mitigation strategies and stringent policies that will protect the groundwater resources from the adverse effects of anthropogenic activities.

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Data Availability

The reported data can be made available upon requesting to the corresponding author, Dr. Abdullah Am-Mamun.

Abbreviations

ASTM:

American Society for Testing and Materials

ASS:

Atomic absorption spectroscopy

Bq/L:

Becquerel per liter

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

Ca:

Calcium

Cl:

Chloride

Cu:

Copper

Cd:

Cadmium

Cr:

Chromium

Co:

Cobalt

DO:

Dissolved oxygen

EC:

Electrical conductivity

E-Coli :

Escherichia coli bacteria

Fe:

Iron

FSPM:

Flame spectrophotometer

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

IC:

Inorganic carbon

ICP:

Inductively coupled plasma

Meq/L:

Milliequivalent per liter

mg/L:

Milligram per liter

mg/kg:

Milligram per kilogram

μg/L:

Microgram per liter

μS/cm:

Microsiemens per centimeter

μmohs/cm:

Micromoh per centimeter

Mg:

Magnesium

Mn:

Manganese

MPN:

Most probable number

Na:

Sodium

Ni:

Nickle

Pb:

Lead

PCA:

Principal component analysis

pH:

Hydrogen ion concentration

ppm:

Parts per million

SO4 2− :

Sulfate

TC:

Total carbon

TDS:

Total dissolved solids

TH:

Total hardness

TOC:

Total organic carbon

TKN:

Total Kjeldahl nitrogen

T-Coli:

Total coliforms bacteria

TH:

Total hardness

Zn:

Zinc

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to extend their gratitude to Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman, to support the scholarship of the graduate student through grant no. RC/RG/ENG/CAED/19/01; and Vale Oman Pelletizing Company, Oman, for the financial support through Environmental Consultancy services no. CR/ENG/CAED/18/05. The authors also wish to thank the reviewers for contributing to improving the quality of the paper through their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al-Khoud 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

    Sajjad Ahmad Siddiqi, Abdullah Al-Mamun & Ahmad Sana

  2. Ministry of Labour, P.O. Box 413, PC 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

    Mahad Said Baawain

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  1. Sajjad Ahmad Siddiqi
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  4. Ahmad Sana
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Contributions

Sajjad Ahmad Siddiqi is a graduate student and he has developed the main concept. He has summarized all the studies from the current literature and prepared the manuscript. Dr. Abdullah Al-Mamun is the Ph.D. supervisor. He has analyzed all the summarized data, made improvements in data presentation, and revised the manuscript. Prof. Mahad Said Baawain is the cosupervisor and he has revised the manuscript. Dr. Ahmad Sana is the Ph.D. committee member. He has helped in analyzing several critical points of the study and revised the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Abdullah Al-Mamun.

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Highlights

• Investigation of groundwater contaminants across Gulf Cooperation Council countries

• Deterioration of groundwater by agricultural, landfill, and seawater intrusion

• Contaminants were characterized in terms of heavy metals, major cations, and anions

• Microbial and radioactive contaminants are posing severe threats to groundwater quality

• Integrated infrastructures and policies are required to safeguard groundwater resources

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Siddiqi, S.A., Al-Mamun, A., Baawain, M.S. et al. Groundwater contamination in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 21023–21044 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13111-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13111-5

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