A research developed in the Water Institute of the University of Granada ha has been awarded the Young Prize 2003 in the Environment category, in the sixth competition the General Foundation of the Complutense University of Madrid annually announces. The research work, entitled “Irrigation with sewage impact in soils of the non-saturated area of the fertile plain of Granada”, was prepared by Kaltoum El Mabrouki researcher with supervision from professors José Javier Cruz San Julián (University of Granada) and José Miguel Rodríguez Maroto (University of Malaga) and was her doctoral thesis.
Tha awarded research refutes the popular theory according to which soil holds sewage compounds so that pollutant effects do not affect the saturated area of the aquifer. However, Kaltoum El Mabrouki´s work proves that agricultural crop soils does not hold inorganic pollutant compounds in a definite way, but that they are released again with the passing of time. Some compounds like ammonium, potassium, sulphate, nitrate or phosphate, which can usually be found in sewage irrigation, are released again as a consequence of the arrival of the rain; for this reason, they will probable reach subterranean waters some day.
Because of the scarcity of water resources, specially in arid and semi-arid areas like Eastern Andalusia and Granada, watering with sewage, treated or not, has become a regular practice, and El Mabrouki´s work involves a warning about precautions which must be taken to that effect and suggests chlorination and drinking water treatment to verify the healthiness of water when it reachs home.
The General Foundation of the Complutense University of Madrid has awarded a prize to the scientific labor and the ecological commitment of this young researcher from Granada, in line with the philosophy of the Young Prize of encouraging and promoting research, creativity, solidarity and respect of the young for the environment in the fields of knowledge, culture and social action. The awards ceremony in the seven categories of the competition (Economics, Science and Technology, Comunication, Plastic Arts, Environment, Solidarity and Narrative) took place the 5th of February.
Further information:
Kaltoum El Mabrouki:
Phone number: 958 248017 / 616 180302.
E-mail: kaltoum@ugr.es
José Javier Cruz San Julián:
Phone number: 958 243356 / 958 248020 / 659 039134.
E-mail: jjcruz@ugr.es
