Air Quality Impact of the Upgraded Al-Samra Waste Water Treatment Plant

In 2008, a new wastewater treatment plant at Al-Samra replaced the old wastewater ponds, which were designed in the sixties of the 20th century to treat the sewage influx from Amman-Zarqa areas. The upgrade has significantly improved the water quality in the Zarqa river and is believed to be a key point in restoring aquatic life in the river. It also reduced atmospheric pollution in Al-Hashemeyyah, which reduced the complaints of the neighboring residents about the odors and flies. In the present study, data for atmospheric pollution at Al-Hashemeyyah were acquired from the Ministry of Environment and investigated in order to detect the changes of air pollution levelsin the town. Data clearly show that concentrationof the atmospheric H2S has declined significantly after 2008. AERMOD dispersion Modeling was deployed in order to quantify the contribution of Al-Samra wastewater treatment plant to ambient air pollution at Al-Hashemyyah. AERMOD results revealed that concentrations of ambient H2S, CH4, and NH3in the vicinity of Al-Samra wastewater treatment facilities are well below the national and the international standards of ambient air quality. The outcomesof AERMOD also revealed that the concentrations of gasses mentioned above vanish within a short distance downwind from Al-Samra. Thus, Al-Samra wastewater treatment plant is no longer a potential source of air pollution in Al-Hashemeyyah town.