Impact of Onshore Construction Activities on Sea Water Turbidity

Turbidity refers to the presence of suspended particles in water. The increased number of construction and development activities these current times is resulting in increased sediments in water, which reflects higher turbidity. Sunlight is frequently absorbed by turbid water, resulting in a rise in the water's overall temperature and a decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration. All these conditions put aquatic life under stress. This research's primary focus was sedimentation and suspension turbidity, which is more likely to occur due to onshore construction activities. In the study, samples were collected from various locations of one of Qatar's onshore construction sites and analyzed for turbidity using a portable turbidity meter and a spectrophotometer. A comparison of the obtained data to Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) standards was conducted. The results indicated a significantly increased turbidity in a few sample locations, i.e., at the inlet point of the sedimentation tank, dewatering pipeline, and open excavations of the project site. The study also suggested using sedimentation tanks and silt traps in an onshore construction project to prevent turbid water from being discharged into the sea.