Water Quality Before and After Dam Building on a Heavily Polluted River in Semi-Arid Algeria

Scientists considered a range of important physico-chemical indicators in a project seeking to characterize the impacts of the construction and management of a reservoir on a polluted stream in a semi-arid region of Algeria. Heavily polluted wastewaters from the town of Maghnia and from a number of factories have contributed to high levels of contamination in the Tafna river. Inputs of organic pollution are derived from domestic sewage and from food industries in the region. Very acidic wastewaters enter the river from ore treatment industries. Data are presented detailing temperature, pH, conductivity, chloride, dissolved oxygen, BOD, and nitrogen compounds from samples collected before and after construction of the dam. Samples were collected from both upstream and downstream sites.