Student Research Reports
The Effect of Pottery on Brackish Water in the KSA and Its impact of Soil and Vegetation Cover
Organization(s):The first Arqah Secondary school Al-riyadh
Country:Saudi Arabia
Student(s):Hala Al-Yousif and Lena Al-Subaie
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Educator(s):Nourah Fahaad AL- Subaie
Contributors:Dr. Ebrahem Saleh, king Saud university, Riyadh
Ms. Najlaa Abdel-Aziz Al-Thumairi, Master of Information Technology
Ms. Nada AL-Habib, Supervisor and researcher in the Globe program
Ms. Abeer Al-Qassem, a professor of science
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:Land Cover Classification, Alkalinity, Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Salinity, Water Temperature, Water Transparency, Soil Characterization, Soil pH, Soil Temperature
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Language(s):English
Date Submitted:03/10/2021
This research aims at identifying the effect of pottery on brackish water in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and its impact on soil and vegetation cover, due to the spread of dry desert areas in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the scarcity of fresh groundwater in such areas.
The Kingdom's dependence on wells as the crucial source of groundwater for plant cultivation
irrigation makes it a cornerstone for us in conducting this study as an attempt to find the necessary
solutions that assistance raise the efficiency of well water in the ability to germinate plants and
increase the cultivation area in the region.
Experiments have been made on a sample of water from one of the wells located in the AlQuwaiyah region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and have been treated by the same sample using
pottery at different periods, with studying the extent of its ability to modify the properties of water
and soil and as a final result to obtain the extent of its ability to germinate the plant.
This study has demonstrated the ability of pottery to reduce electrical conductivity, as well as the
percentage of sodium to water and raise the value of dissolved oxygen in it, the pottery was also
able to modify the properties of the soil by distinguishing it with an easy granular structure and
containing many roots, other than soil irrigated with well water directly.
The soil irrigated with water treated with pottery was characterized by a very high tree density
(95%). It enables us to plant many agricultural crops such as watercress, mint, all kinds of peppers,
tomatoes, eggplant, basil, and some flowering plants such as Rose and jelly, in contrast to the soil
of well water, only palm trees were able to adapt in that soil and resist its salinity.
This study leads us to many recommendations regarding the generalization of the pottery
experiment in afforestation of streets and public gardens using:
Clay bottles for treating saltwater in the area, in addition to the ability of pottery to apply selfirrigation technology through water seepage and on its own from pottery to the soil. We also
recommend lining salt wells with pottery and placing pottery tanks in public areas.
To improve the chemical and physical properties of the water, and thus the surrounding soil, and
finally the vegetation cover of the site irrigated with that water.