Improving Water Quality in the Middle East and North Africa

Laboratory Study and Workshops

The Middle East and North Africa region is one of the most water-scarce areas in the world, with many countries relying heavily on limited freshwater resources. The countries in this region depend on freshwater sources that are shrinking under the combined pressure of arid climates, rapid urbanization, industrial expansion, and agricultural practices. Water pollution in the MENA region is driven by a combination of natural and human-induced factors. Maintaining water quality across the region is an increasingly pressing challenge, driven by a combination of natural and human-induced factors. Industrial waste, agricultural and urban runoff, sewage and wastewater, and soil erosion all contribute to the contamination of already limited freshwater resources. In conflict zones, the situation is further aggravated as water infrastructure is damaged and environmental regulations go unenforced, with far-reaching consequences for aquatic ecosystems and public health.

A multidisciplinary and innovative response

It is against this backdrop that the AGYA Working Group has launched a multi-perspective research project focusing on innovative methods to analyze and enhance water quality through the development and testing of new technologies. The project brought together researchers from Egypt, Germany, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Morocco to develop and test novel methods spanning environmental chemistry, artificial intelligence, IoT sensor technology, and renewable energy. The project pursued four interconnected research directions:

• Tracing newly emerging pollutants: Investigating the presence of rare heavy metals such as gadolinium (a common medical imaging agent) in the Tigris River in Iraq, by assessing contamination levels and mapping anthropogenic pollution sources along the river.

• Smart water quality monitoring: Development of a model of an intelligent and cost-efficient water quality monitoring system utilizing precise water sensors to enable real-time water quality monitoring for the Nile River in Egypt with regard to physical, chemical, and biological parameters.

• AI-driven biological analysis: Enabling faster and more accurate detection and classification of microbial contamination in rivers and tap water in Lebanon and Germany by training Region-Based Convolutional Neural Networks (R-CNN) with a specially developed algorithm to apply it to microscopic imaging.

• Water–energy synergies: Evaluation of the potential of floating solar panels to reduce water evaporation, control algae growth, and regulate water temperature based on simulations across four hydroelectric dams in Morocco's Sebou basin.

From research to policy

To turn research into meaningful change in water quality management, the project fostered dialogue between Arab-German researchers, policymakers, NGOs, and local communities through hybrid conferences in Erbil, Iraq, and Benghazi, Libya, and a dedicated awareness day in Cairo, Egypt.