Pollution of water resources from industrial effluents: a case study — Benghazi, Libya

Water shortage problem is considered to be one of the biggest problems facing the middle eastern region, specifically the Arab countries located in semi-arid zones. The natural water resources of the region are suffering from outside control dominated by complex political circumstances, and inside deteriorations imposed by the combination of a fast growing population, and the challenges of industrialization which increases the water demands for domestic, agricultural and industrial applications. This puts a high stress on the natural water resources and make them vulnerable to pollution. This paper investigates the problem of pollution caused by industrial wastes, evaluates prevention means, and promotes desalination techniques.

It is clearly manifested from this scientific data, the acuteness of the pollution problem caused by these studied effluent sources. There might be other industrial effluent sources that dispose more hazardous pollution wastes than the studied sources. Hence, it is recommended that: • Surveillance and control of all industrial wastes to the environment and building of proper treatment plants to handle the miscellaneous pollution wastes. • Creation of public awareness of the importance of protection of the environment from hazardous pollution by all informative means. • Legislation of proper regulations and laws that serve protection of the environment in cooperation with Euromed countries and organizations. • Establishment of environmental protection authorities that are capable of: – Developing public awareness, – Monitoring of pollution problems, – Providing consultation and expertise to pollution problems • Protection of all natural resources, specifically water resources from hazardous pollution.