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A Study of Water Quality Near to a Coral Reef Site in the Region of Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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A Study of Water Quality Near to a Coral Reef Site in the Region of Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Canadian Journal on Chemical Engineering & Technology Vol. 3 No. 3, April 2012

A Study of Water Quality
Near to a Coral Reef Site in the Region of
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Rami El Khatib, Adnan Falah, Golaleh Tavakoli, Christine D 'cruz and Jasmine Pereira

Abstract — The water quality near to a coral reef site in
Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was studied.
Many Physico-Chemical parameters for water samples taken at two different depths (0.5 m and 1.0 m) parallel to a coral reef site were measured and analyzed. The data showed that the pH is equal to 6.4, 6.1 respectively which indicates an acidic environment. The average of total dissolved solids (TDS) is approximately equal to 43,600 mg/L and 43,200 respectively, salinity= 46,242 µs/cm 45,880 µs/cm, specific conductance=
88,433 µs/cm and 86,566 µs/cm. The concentrations of many other chemical parameters were studied and reported in this article such as magnesium, copper, CaCO3, potassium, K2O.
The proportions of other inorganic species such as iron, phosphorus, phosphorus pentaoxide, bromide, and nitrate were also studied and some of these parameters have showed low concentrations which can indicate a desirable level of pollutants. The impacts of these projects have caused increased levels of turbidity and suspended sediments carried away from the dredge or reclamation sites5. Other possible stressors for coral reef include: coastal development, sedimentation, coral bleaching, water pollution, destructive fishing practices, ocean acidification (due to increased atmospheric CO2), and poor tourism practices.

The resilience of coral reefs has been eroded to an extent that they have been unable to successfully recover as they have done before6. The article by Hughes et al. (2010) has distinguished two types of drivers of change, slow or chronic drivers (occur concurrently and are highly interrelated) and fast drivers (occasional disturbances that change the


References: E., & Grigg, R. W. (2005). The area of potential shallow-water tropical and subtropical coral ecosystems in the United States. 2. OWOW - US EPA. (2005, October). Coral Reefs. Retrieved January 16, 2012, from Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and 3. Shabib, M., Al Abed, I., & Hellyer, P. (2001). United Arab Emirates: a new perspective 4. Henderson, J. C. (2006). Tourism in Dubai: overcoming barriers to destination development coral reef resilience. Trends in Ecology and Evolution , 619680. Oxford Journals. Retrieved, December 7, 2011, from: http://icb.oxfirdjournals.org/content/33/6/524.short 9. Burt, J., Bartholomew, A., & Usseglio, P. (2008). Recovery of corals a decade after a bleaching event in Dubai, United (2010). The influence of wave exposure of coral community development on man-made breakwater reefs, with a 1, 19, (2001). Science - Dimension of Pollution, 1, 48, (2001). RTST, 109-113, (2002). Sante, Beirut, Lebanon, (1998). 15. Falah, A., El Khatib, R., Yahfoufi, N. (2012). Water Quality Survey of Arabian Peninsula in Regions of Dubai in
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