TY - JOUR
T1 - Managed Aquifer Recharge Using Treated Wastewater: An Option to Manage a Coastal Aquifer In Oman For Better Domestic Water Supply
AU - Al-Maktoumi, Ali
AU - Zekri, Slim
AU - ElRawy, Mustafa
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - Arid countries, such as the Sultanate of Oman, are facing challenges of
water shortages threatening economic development and social stability.
Most of those countries are vulnerable to the potential adverse impacts
of climate change, the most significant of which are increased average
temperatures, less and more erratic precipitation, sea level rise, and
desertification. The combined effect of existing adverse conditions and
likely impacts of future climate change will make water management even
more difficult than what it is today. Tremendous efforts have been
devoted to augment the water resources. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR)
is practiced widely to store water during periods of surpluses and
withdraw during deficits from an aquifer. In Muscat, there will be a
surplus of >100,000 m3/day of TWW during winter months in the coming
few years. The aquifer along the northern coast of Oman (Al-Khawd
Aquifer) is conducive for MAR. Data show that TWW volumes will increase
from 7.6 Mm3 in 2003 to 70.9 Mm3 in 2035 in Muscat city only. This
study assesses, using MODFLOW 2005 numerical code, the impact of MAR
using TWW on better management of the Al-Khawd unconfined coastal
aquifer for better urban water supply. Specifically, aiming to maximize
withdrawals from the domestic wells with minimize adverse effect of
seawater intrusion. The model operates under a number of constrains that
minimize the loss to the sea and the injected TWW must not migrates
upstream (due to developed mound) and reach the wellfields used for
domestic supply. The hypothetical injection wells are located downstream
the domestic wellfield zone. The results of different managerial
scenarios show that MAR produces a hydraulic barrier that decelerates
the seawater intrusion which allows higher abstraction of pristine water
from the upstream part of the aquifer. MAR along with
redistribution/relocation of public wells allows abstraction of 2 times
the current abstraction rate (around 6 Mm3/year to 12 Mm3/year) without
significantly deteriorating the aquifer water quality. The results
suggests that the aquifer is capable to withstand further stresses when
MAR is practiced allowing better utilization of the Al-Kawd aquifer
especially during emergency events. Keywords: Managed Aquifer Recharge,
Oman, Climate Change, Treated Effluent, MODFLOW 2005. Acknowledgements:
This study was supported by a grant from USAID-FABRI, project contract:
AID-OAA-TO-11-00049 (project code:1001626 - 104). Authors also
acknowledge support from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
AB - Arid countries, such as the Sultanate of Oman, are facing challenges of
water shortages threatening economic development and social stability.
Most of those countries are vulnerable to the potential adverse impacts
of climate change, the most significant of which are increased average
temperatures, less and more erratic precipitation, sea level rise, and
desertification. The combined effect of existing adverse conditions and
likely impacts of future climate change will make water management even
more difficult than what it is today. Tremendous efforts have been
devoted to augment the water resources. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR)
is practiced widely to store water during periods of surpluses and
withdraw during deficits from an aquifer. In Muscat, there will be a
surplus of >100,000 m3/day of TWW during winter months in the coming
few years. The aquifer along the northern coast of Oman (Al-Khawd
Aquifer) is conducive for MAR. Data show that TWW volumes will increase
from 7.6 Mm3 in 2003 to 70.9 Mm3 in 2035 in Muscat city only. This
study assesses, using MODFLOW 2005 numerical code, the impact of MAR
using TWW on better management of the Al-Khawd unconfined coastal
aquifer for better urban water supply. Specifically, aiming to maximize
withdrawals from the domestic wells with minimize adverse effect of
seawater intrusion. The model operates under a number of constrains that
minimize the loss to the sea and the injected TWW must not migrates
upstream (due to developed mound) and reach the wellfields used for
domestic supply. The hypothetical injection wells are located downstream
the domestic wellfield zone. The results of different managerial
scenarios show that MAR produces a hydraulic barrier that decelerates
the seawater intrusion which allows higher abstraction of pristine water
from the upstream part of the aquifer. MAR along with
redistribution/relocation of public wells allows abstraction of 2 times
the current abstraction rate (around 6 Mm3/year to 12 Mm3/year) without
significantly deteriorating the aquifer water quality. The results
suggests that the aquifer is capable to withstand further stresses when
MAR is practiced allowing better utilization of the Al-Kawd aquifer
especially during emergency events. Keywords: Managed Aquifer Recharge,
Oman, Climate Change, Treated Effluent, MODFLOW 2005. Acknowledgements:
This study was supported by a grant from USAID-FABRI, project contract:
AID-OAA-TO-11-00049 (project code:1001626 - 104). Authors also
acknowledge support from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
M3 - Article
VL - 18
JO - EGU General Assembly 2016, held 17-22 April, 2016 in Vienna Austria
JF - EGU General Assembly 2016, held 17-22 April, 2016 in Vienna Austria
ER -