Chemical Industries

CHE 422
Water Quality Comparison

Salah-Luis Group (B-JUST)

Students Name Students Number

Mohammed Mdardas 141925

Ahmad Abuawaad 142578

Emad Rihani

Bashar Othman
According to the World Health Organization, access to safe drinking
water is a fundamental human right. In this report, we will compare
the quality of drinking water in Jordan and New York City, and
provide a comparative analysis.

Jordan is a country in the Middle East, with a population of

approximately 10 million people. According to a report by the United
Nations Development Programme, Jordan faces significant water
scarcity issues, with only 140 cubic meters of water per capita per
year. This is well below the international water scarcity threshold of
1,000 cubic meters per capita per year. Despite these challenges, the
Jordanian government has made significant efforts to provide its
citizens access to safe drinking water. According to the Ministry of
Water and Irrigation, 97% of Jordanians have access to potable
water. However, the water quality in some areas is still a concern,
with high levels of salinity and contamination from agricultural runoff.

As Jordan’s limited water resources are used to meet the demands of

the rapidly growing population, water shortages are becoming a daily
reality for many, and surface and groundwater resources are
increasingly threatened with depletion. Water quality is also
deteriorating.

As mentioned in the previous section, water quality in the lower part

of the Jordan River and the Zarqa River has severely deteriorated
over the last 70 years, and the water from these rivers is no longer fit
for human consumption. For example, the flow of the Jordan River is
constantly decreasing because of upstream abstractions. At the same
time, untreated wastewater and agricultural fertilizer runoff continue
to enter the Jordan River, which is affecting the quality of the
relatively small amount of water that is left.
In New York City, the drinking water quality is considered to be one of
the best in the world. The New York City Department of
Environmental Protection monitors the city's water supply and
conducts regular testing to ensure that the water meets all state and
federal standards. The water is sourced from the Catskill Mountains
and the Delaware River watershed, which are protected areas that
minimize the risk of contamination.

New York City’s water supply system provides more than one billion
gallons of safe drinking water every day to more than 8.8 million
residents of New York City and one million people living in the
counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange, and Ulster. In 2021, we
delivered 100 million gallons per day to 70 communities and
institutions outside NYC. In all, this system provides nearly half the
population of New York State with high-quality drinking water. New
York City gets its drinking water from 19 reservoirs and three
controlled lakes spread across a nearly 2,000-square-mile watershed.
The watershed is located upstate in portions of the Hudson Valley
and Catskill Mountains that are as far as 125 miles north of the city.
New York City’s water supply system is composed of two primary
surface water supplies called the Catskill/Delaware and Croton. The
City also has a permit to operate a groundwater supply in Southeast
Queens, although water from that system has not been delivered to
customers in many years. In 2021, New York City received a blend of
drinking water from the Catskill/Delaware and Croton supplies. The
Catskill/Delaware provided approximately 88 percent of the water,
and approximately 12 percent was supplied by Croton.

Comparing the two locations, it is clear that New York City has a
significant advantage in terms of the quality of drinking water. The
water supply is clean and reliable, and the city has a robust system to
ensure it remains that way. On the other hand, while Jordan has
made progress in providing access to safe drinking water, there are
still concerns regarding the quality of water in some areas.
In conclusion, access to safe drinking water is a fundamental human
right, and efforts must be made to ensure that people have access to
clean and reliable water. While Jordan faces significant water scarcity
issues, the government has made efforts to provide access to safe
drinking water. However, drinking water quality in some areas is still a
concern. New York City, on the other hand, has one of the best
drinking water supplies in the world, thanks to a well-protected water
source and a robust monitoring system.