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Assessment of the groundwater contamination is an efficient means to discover and carry out the demarcation of the more vulnerable zones to pollution from human activities. This study is focused on the plain of El Asnam (Northern Algeria) characterized by intensive agricultural activities. To protect the groundwater from pollution, it is necessary to determine vulnerable areas. This paper aims to generate groundwater vulnerability map using two models: DRASTIC and Susceptibility Index (SI) associated with geographic information system (GIS) of El Asnam plain aquifer. The Validation of these models to pollution was performed by comparing the nitrate distribution across the area with the classes of vulnerability and has proved that the SI model is the more valid one with 50% of the study area. Considering these results, the SI model may serve as an effective means to help the protection of groundwater and can eventually be used by the decision makers and the groundwater managers.

The study aimed to determine Aluminum sludge composition and structure for its valorisation as an alternative natural material for heavy metals removal from wastewater for further reuse as treated water in different applications. The study was conducted to investigate the introduction of Al-bearing sludge composition. The physical and chemical properties were examined using X-ray diffraction tests (XRD), scanning electron microscope tests (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared tests (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller tests (BET). Furthermore, the heavy metal concentrations of synthetic wastewater were measured using the spectrophotometry method. The experimental procedure is based on testing different pH limits and amounts of aluminum sludge to find the optimum conditions for copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) removal. The results demonstrated a high removal efficiency where its value reached up to 97.4% and 96.6% for Zn and Cu, respectively, in an acidic medium (pH = 6) using a relatively high amount of sludge (1400 mg). Nevertheless, a low efficiency was obtained in the strongly acidic medium (pH = 4) and a smaller sludge amount of about 480 mg.

The present study consists in verifying the effect of the partial replacement of alluvial sand by glass aggregates on the performance of mortar. For that, a series of mechanical tests (compression and bending) and an examination of the pozzolanic activity were carried out on samples of prismatic shapes (40x40x160 mm3) of three types of mortar: (i) control mortar (cement + alluvial sand + mixing water); (ii) type 1 mortar (AV10) (cement + “90% alluvial sand + 10% glass aggregate” + water); and (iii) type 2 mortar (AV20) (cement + “80% alluvial sand + 20% glass aggregate” + water). The obtained results show that the presence of glass aggregates as a partial replacement for alluvial sand increases the performance of the mortar for an age of 28 days, in particular for the case of AV20.