Water quality monitoring is crucial in managing water resources and ensuring their safety for human use and environmental health. In the Al-Jawf Basin, we conducted a study on the Quaternary aquifer, where various techniques were utilized to evaluate, simulate, and predict the groundwater quality (GWQ) for irrigation. These techniques include water quality indices (IWQIs), geochemical modeling, multivariate statistical analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS). Physicochemical analysis was conducted on the collected groundwater samples to determine their composition. The results showed that the order of abundance of ions was Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and SO42− > Cl− > HCO3− > NO3−. The assessment of groundwater quality for irrigation based on indices such as Irrigation water quality index (IWQI), sodium adsorption ratio(SAR), sodium percent (Na%), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), potential salinity (PS), and residual sodium carbonate RSC, which revealed moderate-to-severe restrictions in some samples. The Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model was then used to predict the IWQIs with high accuracy during both the training and testing phases. Overall, these findings provide valuable information for decision-makers in water quality management and can aid in the sustainable development of water resources.
26 July 2025 in Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
This study developed an integrated hydrogeochemical-machine learning approach for groundwater quality assessment and health risk evaluation in Yemen’s Al Jawf basin. Thirty-three samples from the Quaternary aquifer were analyzed for major ions and trace metals, with multivariate statistics identifying hydrogeochemical patterns and Random Forest (RF) models predicting water quality indices. Hydrogeochemical analysis revealed three water types: Ca-HCO₃ (45%), mixed Ca-Mg-HCO₃-SO₄ (36%), and Na-Cl (19%) facies, controlled by carbonate dissolution, silicate weathering, and anthropogenic inputs. Principal component analysis identified three components explaining 78.5% of variance, with natural mineralization dominating (45.2%). Irrigation water quality index (IWQI) assessment classified 52% of samples as excellent-good, 33% as moderate, and 15% as poor-very poor. Significant samples (63.5-93%) in eastern and northwestern areas showed potential negative impacts on soil fertility based on irrigation indices. Health risk evaluation revealed that 27% of samples exceeded drinking guidelines for Fe and Mn, with children more vulnerable than adults according to hazard index value (HI > 1). Random Forest models achieved high accuracy (R² = 0.94–0.97) predicting multiple indices using 6–8 parameters, reducing monitoring costs by 60%. This represents the first post-conflict comprehensive assessment in Al Jawf basin, providing a replicable framework for sustainable groundwater management in arid regions with limited resources.
The demand for fishmeal is increasing, but its supply is stagnating or even declining. There is an urgent need to find an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative protein source. This study evaluated poultry by-product and insect meal as alternatives to fishmeal for the health performance and bioactivity of Nile tilapia. A Nile tilapia fry was divided into four groups with three replicates (No = 168). The first group was fed a basal diet containing 20% fishmeal (T FM ). The second, third, and fourth groups received a basal diet where the fishmeal was substituted with poultry by-product meal (T PM ), insect meal from Hermetia illucens (T IM ), and a mixture of poultry by-product and insect meal (T MIX ), respectively. The overall growth performance data indicated that T FM and T IM significantly achieved the highest growth rates and feed utilization ( P < 0.05). The T IM diet significantly exhibited the highest total phenolic content, and both T IM and T FM showed superior antioxidant activity in fish muscle. There were no abnormal hematological or serum biochemical parameters observed in Nile tilapia fed insect meal and/or poultry by-product. The fish fillet samples from all groups were microbiologically safe for human consumption. Fish fed T IM displayed the lowest levels of TNF-α and the highest levels of IL-10 ( P < 0.05). All the groups exhibited normal architecture of the internal organs. The significantly highest recorded absorption surface area was found in both T FM and T IM diets ( P < 0.05). The NF-κB immunostaining showed no significant changes among experimental groups ( P > 0.05). Based on this study, it can be suggested that the insect meal can be a sustainable and cost-effective substitute for conventional fishmeal in aquaculture feed formulations.