The Oasis of Taghit (A Lgeria )

Treated waste water for sustainable production of valuable biomass, soil and water quality improvement and combating desertification in Algeria and Tunisia Letter of agreement FAO - GCB/RAB/013/ITA Intermediate report November 2012 ANNEX 2 - SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AREA : THE OASIS OF TAGHIT (A LGERIA ) Site The Taghit valley is relatively narrow particularly between the Zaouiates. Never exceeding the width of 100 meters, it is structured by the plot arrangement of the oasis and the hardness of its eastern shore. The ramblings of the Zousfana river are very faint unlike those of other wadi (like the Guir river) benefiting the width of the alluvial valley. After the administrative division of 1984, the municipality of Taghit consists of the following locations: Taghit; Zaouia Fougania; Berrabi Bakhti; Zaouia Tehtania and Brika. Geography Soil and geology The protected area of Taghit-Guir is thus part of the geological domain Sahara north-west. It extends northward the Valley Saoura and encroaches on the Saharan Atlas. It is distinguished by hamadiennes formations to the west and the large Western Erg in the east. The main formations are Quaternary overcoming south-west Paleozoic land. These are the mountains of Ougarta. Surface water and groundwater Zousfana river, along which stretches the oasis of Taghit, is the main source of water for the area. The surface runoff caused by precipitation on the hydrologic units, its manifest form of floods very important since the watersheds of major rivers are relatively stretched north - south and drain large reliefs. Along the valley of river Zousfana, flood runoff play an important role in the recharge of groundwater of the oasis of Taghit, also considering that the mean period between two major floods is of about two years. Meanwhile the flood is the main process diluting the mineral and organic loads of the river Zousfana resulting from direct discharges of sewage. Capacity in groundwater oasis Taghit is very limited due to geological configurations and petrographic types of training. The only resources that may be available are those of shallow aquifers contained in the alluvial valley. However, these aquifers are directly related to precipitation and to waste water, treated or not, discharged into the river bed. Climate (Bechar) Rain J F M A M J J A S O N D Monthly avg [mm / month] 12 7 5 13 1 0 0 1 11 5 0 4 (1997-1999) Annual avg [mm / year] 51 (1987-1999) Temperature Monthly avg [°C] 10.1 13.0 16.0 19.7 23.5 29.8 33.2 32.6 27.9 21.4 9.1 11.1 Monthly min [°C] 5.8 6.6 9.7 14 19.2 22.6 26.8 25.2 22.5 16.9 9.7 5.4 Monthly max [°C] 16.2 20.7 22.6 24.4 30.7 36.5 40.5 37.3 33.1 27.9 22.7 18.2 Annual avg [°C] 23.7 (1987-1999) Waste water characterization: flow and quality The sewage discharged directly in the beds of the river Zousfana represents the main source of pollution for the palm area of Taghit and for the other oasis downstream, with serious risk of disease transmission. In order to reduce the pollution effects over the river Zousfana, it is important to provide all the Taghit area with individual waste water systems. The individual systems have the advantage of easier and lower maintenance if compared to a unique central system. The following table shows an estimation of the waste water production in the oasis of Taghit. population connected to the sewage Inhabitant 6'900 standard drink water consumption litres/day 150 collected wastewater* litres/day 120 annual wastewater volume m3/year 302'220 * considering 30 litres of losses per day .

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