Local Assessment of Water and Sediment Quality As a Prerequisite for Water Management Strategies in Jordan
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LOCAL ASSESSMENT OF WATER AND SEDIMENT QUALITY AS A PREREQUISITE FOR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN JORDAN FRANZISKA FÖRSTER Dissertation submitted to the Combined Faculties of the Natural Science and for Mathematics of the Ruperto-Carola University of Heidelberg for the degree of Doctor of Natural Science presented by StR Franziska Förster born in Lübeck, Germany Oral examination: Local assessment of water and sediment quality as a prerequisite for water management strategies in Jordan Referees: Prof. Dr. Thomas Braunbeck Centre of Organismal Studies, Heidelberg Prof. Dr. Werner Aeschbach-Hertig Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertation selbst verfasst und mich dabei keiner anderen als der von mir ausdrücklich bezeichneten Quellen und Hilfen bedient habe. Des Weiteren erkläre ich, dass ich an keiner Stelle ein Prüfungsverfahren beantragt oder die Dissertation in dieser oder einer andren Form bereits anderweitig als Prüfungsarbeit verwendet oder einer anderen Fakultät als Dissertation vorgelegt habe. Ort, Datum Franziska Förster Meinen Eltern. Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Thomas Braunbeck for the opportunity to prepare my dissertation in his working group. Furthermore I would like to thank him for the opportunity to participate in teaching at the university. Prof. Dr. Werner Aeschbach-Hertig as my second supervisor for his interest in my work and all his support in Jordan and during seminars. All employees from the Water Authority in Jordan. Special thanks are to Suzan Kilani and her successor Prof. Dr. Muna Hindiyeh for agreeing on and continuing the cooperation, to Randa Tuffaha for her untiring support and expertise and also for the friendship that has emerged from the cooperation, to Refaat Bani-Khalaf for his help and all the laughs we had, to the “girls” from the lab for the friendly welcome and the secret breakfasts, and of course also and very much to my “sampling-buddies” who made the trips into the field an unforgettable memory. Thanks for giving me the chance to experience the overwhelming Arabian mentality and hospitality. Dr. Mustafa Al-Kuisi for establishing the first contacts to important Jordanian authorities and to Prof. Nasim Barham for the introduction into the Jordanian water situation. Special thanks are also to my fellow PhD students Barbara Brillmayer-Bakti, Thomas Bonn, Silvan Eppinger, Tillmann Kaudse and our “sampling-assistant” Florian Freund for the fruitful scientific exchange and most important for the precious friendship that has developed out of our trips to Jordan. Inshallah, we will always stay in touch. I would also like to thank the whole working group “Aquatic Ecology and Toxicology”. Britta Kais for being a very good friend, her mental support and the scientific discussions. Daniel Stengel my desk neighbor for enduring endless questions and never getting tired of answering them and for uncountable coffees shared on the bench. Kathi Schneider for her invaluable work she does for the whole group and for coloring-up the office. Svenja Böhler for organizing all the social events. Ruben Strecker and Christopher Fassbender as former but never-forgotten members for broadening my mind for another sort of humor. Philipp Kremer for his love and support during the last years. My family, without whom I would never had the opportunity to prepare this PhD. Thank you for your trust and love! Contents Summary .................................................................................................................................... 1 Zusammenfassung ...................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background of the thesis ........................................................................................... 5 1.2 Water shortage in Jordan ........................................................................................... 6 1.3 The study area: Jordanian surface waters .................................................................. 9 1.3.1 Jordan River ................................................................................................................. 10 1.3.2 King Abdullah Canal................................................................................................... 11 1.3.3 Wadi Mujib ................................................................................................................... 12 1.3.4 Yarmouk River............................................................................................................. 12 1.3.5 Zarqa River ................................................................................................................... 13 1.4 Assessment of sediments in ecotoxicology ............................................................. 14 1.5 Objectives of the present thesis ............................................................................... 15 2. Materials and Methods ................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Sampling .................................................................................................................. 17 2.1.1 Jordan River ................................................................................................................. 17 2.1.2 King Abdullah Canal................................................................................................... 18 2.1.3 Wadi Mujib ................................................................................................................... 19 2.1.4 Yarmouk River............................................................................................................. 20 2.1.5 Zarqa River ................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Morphological and physical parameters, nutrients and salts ................................... 23 2.3 Sample processing ................................................................................................... 24 2.3.1 Freeze drying of sediments ........................................................................................ 24 2.3.2 Organic extraction of sediments ................................................................................ 24 2.3.3 Solid-phase extraction of water samples .................................................................. 25 2.4 In vitro assays .......................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1 Cell culture ................................................................................................................... 26 2.4.2 Acute cytotoxicity ....................................................................................................... 27 2.4.3 Genotoxicity ................................................................................................................. 29 2.4.4 EROD assay ................................................................................................................. 31 2.5 In vivo assay: zebrafish embryo toxicity test with Danio rerio ............................. 35 2.6 Classification of sediment toxicity .......................................................................... 39 3. Results .............................................................................................................................. 41 3.1 Morphological an physical parameters, nutrients and salts ..................................... 41 3.1.1 Jordan River ................................................................................................................. 41 3.1.2 King Abdullah Canal................................................................................................... 44 3.1.3 Wadi Mujib ................................................................................................................... 46 3.1.4 Yarmouk River............................................................................................................. 47 3.1.5 Zarqa River ................................................................................................................... 49 3.2 Acute cytotoxicity of sediment extracts in the neutral red assay with RTL-W1 cells .......................................................................................................................... 54 3.2.1 Jordan River ................................................................................................................. 54 3.2.2 King Abdullah Canal................................................................................................... 55 3.2.3 Wadi Mujib ................................................................................................................... 56 3.2.4 Yarmouk River............................................................................................................. 56 3.2.5 Zarqa River ................................................................................................................... 57 3.2.6 Comprehensive presentation of effects in the neutral red assay............................ 58 3.3 Acute cytotoxicity in the neutral red assay with V79 cells ..................................... 59 3.4 Comet assay with