King Talal Dam (KTD) reservoir, Jordan's largest surface reserv o ir, is t h reatened by the activities
of the catchment’s area, both domestic and industrial, whic h emit untreated waste into the res ervoir’s
tributaries, cons equently, raising the pollution and co n t amin ating the water chemically and biologically.
Th e re fo re , the objective of this study was to ass ess the water quality and the pollution load to th e
reservoir in t e rms o f some cardinal water quality parameters. Water samples obtained from inside and
releas e outlet site of the dam were chemically tested by a n alyzing the pres ence of heavy metals,
phenolic compounds, trace elements using as a screening tool ICP-MS, GCMS, and other e q uipment
for physico-chemical and other parameters. For the biolo g ic a l s c reening, eosine methylene blue (EMB)
media was us ed to investigate the presence of the fecal coliform and E. coli. Re s u lt s o b tained from
this study showed that th e c oncentration of analyzed metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Fe, Hg, Pb, Mo and
Mn) and other parameters (p H, EC, TDS, BOD, turbidity) are within the recommended standard limits
fo r t h ese contents in irrigation water. Also, results obtained from this study indicates the pollutio n
tendencies of the su rfa c e wa ters of KTD res ervoir, attributable to high levels of organic compounds..
Results revealed significa n t toxicity of phenolic compounds was found in water samples, indicating the
water quality of these sample s is not potable. It is mainly due to the present of biological
contamination. The maximum concentrations of phenol was (2.09 mg l ) and (1.82 mg l ) fo r o u tlet -1 -1
and inside wa ter samples respectively. Among the selected phenolic compounds, the most frequently
detected we re cyclohexane and benzene, which was found to be present in all sampling sites. All the
analyzed sample s o f fecal coliform showed contaminated status ranging between 1.1 ´ 10 to 2.1 ´ 10 3 6
CFU 100 ml from water and sewage samples respectively. E. coli c ounts were more than 1.1 ´ 10 -1 2
CFU in 100 ml in all samples which indicates that our irrig a tio n wa ter have biological pollution
-1
which is very alarming. This st u d y p ro vides a very us eful amount of information for detecting potential
toxicity risks.