Assessment of the pH of water and sediments at Ramsar Sites in Gabes city, Tunisia

Abstract

Very few studies of the potential of Hydrogen (pH) of water and sediment wetland at Ramsar site 2076/2012 have been reported in the literature. In this context, a sampling was collected from five sites of Oued El Malah and Tarf El Maa (north of Gabes: south-east of Tunisia). The results showed that the pH complies with national and international regulations (6.5 ?pH ? 8.5). Indeed, the hydrogen potential of water was varied between 7.88 (S2) and 8.24 (S1). It is ranged from 7.76 (S1 and S2) to 8.05 (S4) for sediments. Positive correlation (r = 0.985) and highly significant difference (P <0.01) were recorded for water and sediment pH. To confirm or refute this hypothesis, additional studies (physicochemical, biochemical and bacteriological analysis) are needed to assess the quality of these areas.