Civil Engineering / İnşaat Mühendisliği
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Article Citation - WoS: 6Citation - Scopus: 6Valuing Groundwater Heritage: the Historic Wells of Kadıovacık(Springer, 2021) Yüceer, Hülya; Baba, Alper; Özcan Gönülal, Yasemin; Uştuk, Ozan; Gerçek, Deniz; Güler, Selen; Uzelli, TaygunThe consideration of the subject of water resources, seen as a part of cultural heritage, generally includes water-related architectural structures such as bridges, aqueducts, and cisterns. Groundwater resources and related structures, however, receive little attention as heritage assets, and they are mostly forgotten together with the valuable information they hold. In this sense, this study aims to provide an accurate assessment of groundwater heritage and to suggest proposals for conservation through the case of the historic wells of Kadıovacık village in the Urla district of İzmir. Although the region where the village is located is rich in groundwater resources, the residents have suffered from drought for ages due to the specific geological characteristics of the Kadıovacık polje. The limited amount of water resources in Kadıovacık village have karstic characteristics and have shaped the life and topography of the region. To access and harvest this limited groundwater, a group of wells had been constructed on the ridge of the hill. These wells have been idle since 1980s with the supply of city main water. In line with the aim, a comprehensive heritage valuation by an interdisciplinary group of experts is essential to reveal the significance of the relatively humble wells. Accordingly, a multi-method system is used, including historical, social, cultural, architectural, geological, hydrogeological, and environmental aspects. The results show that although the wells are generally considered to be less important as heritage assets in terms of their physical features, an in-depth evaluation demonstrates their high significance for the village community.Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 3A Quality Assessment of Public Water Fountains and Relation To Human Health: a Case Study From Yozgat, Turkey(John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2019) İritaş, Servet Birgin; Türksoy, Vugar Ali; Deniz, Serdar; Koçoğlu, Serhat; Kırat, Güllü; Demirkesen, Ali Can; Baba, AlperPublic fountains are very common and everyday people appreciate the benefits a water fountain can bring. However, consumption of public fountain water in some country has decreased because of growing concerns that constituents in fountain water may have adverse effects on health. A few studies have examined the safety of public fountains, proposing only limited evidence of fountain-related health issues in Turkey. Most of these public fountains are sourced from natural springs in Turkey. In this study, a 177 fountain water and 32 rock samples were analysed for source and quality of water. The geology of the region has the direct impact on the quality of the public fountain water. The results indicate that the level of some elements exceeded the limit values determined by WHO and US.EPA. The most striking high values were observed for iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), arsenic (As) and bromine (Br) concentrations.Conference Object Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 2Arsenic in Groundwater in Western Anatolia, Turkey: a Review(University of Silesia Press, 2010) Gündüz, Orhan; Baba, Alper; Elpit, HandanOccurrence of arsenic (As) in groundwater has been a major problem worldwide for the last hundred years. Considering its toxic effects on human health, the presence of elevated levels of arsenic in groundwater resources used in drinking water supply has been an active research field throughout the world (Van Halem et al., 2009). In this regard, case studies from Bangla-desh, India, Nepal, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Chile, China, Canada, Argentina, Peru, Taiwan, United States, Bolivia and Turkey have been documented with regards to the detection of natural levels in groundwater, the occurrence and distribution mechanisms, the human health effects and the in-situ and ex-situ treatment techniques (Jean et al., 2010). In many of these locations, arsenic is naturally found in the subsurface strata within volcanic and sedimentary formations as well as in areas of geothermal systems related to tectonic activity. Western Anatolia in Turkey is one such area of complex geology with active tectonics and high geothermal potential. This natural setting serves as a suitable environment for the presence of high levels of arsenic in subsurface waters. Based on these fundamentals, this study presents a general overview of arsenic presence in western Anatolia.Conference Object Tracing the Relative Distribution of Arsenic Species in Groundwater and Its Association With Soil Arsenic Levels in the Simav Graben Area, Turkey(2016) Gündüz, Orhan; Şimşek, Celalettin; Elçi, Alper; Baba, Alper; Gürleyük, HakanA comprehensive hydrogeochemical assessment was conducted in the Simav Plain, Turkey where major health concerns were reported and elevated arsenic (As) levels were previously found. Boreholes drilled in the plain were used to take core samples from the alluvial aquifer from which most groundwater was extracted. The results of core analyses revealed several orders of magnitude higher values than global average. Groundwater samples were later collected from these boreholes and analyzed for arsenic and its species as well as other related hydrochemical parameters. The results of groundwater quality assessment revealed that the groundwater in the plain was enriched with arsenic that exceed 1 mg/L level and was mostly under reducing conditions. The dominant arsenic specie in groundwater was arsenite in more than 70% of all samples.Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 5Groundwater in Local Development Strategies: Case of Izmir(IWA Publishing, 2018) Velibeyoğlu, Koray; Yazdani, Hamidreza; Baba, AlperThis study takes into account groundwater in local development strategies of Izmir, in which rapid and uneven development has occurred in recent decades. Therefore, resilience thinking is needed in the future development of the city-region. To this end, the paper aims to make an analysis of recently completed asset-based local development strategies for Izmir city towards water resiliency. The methodology has two main steps. Firstly, by using spatial interaction analysis of peninsula and river basins, potential vulnerabilities and risks are indicated. Secondly, a stratified model of strategy evaluation is conducted by scrutinizing the existing layered approaches. Then, these models were applied to all strategic decisions including water resources and indicated a high level of consistency to achieve sustainable and resilient use of blue-green infrastructure in the future of Izmir’s metropolitan area. Local assets, including water resources, are the backbone of future development of the Izmir city-region. Therefore, usage of local assets in a multi-level perspective of strategy development needs to be understood. The stratified model denotes that special emphasis should be given to different river basins in different levels. This study illustrates that synergy management is needed between different layers of local development strategies, in which the role of urban and rural households is of the utmost importance.Article Citation - WoS: 18Citation - Scopus: 22The Health Risk Associated With Chronic Diseases in Villages With High Arsenic Levels in Drinking Water Supplies(Springer Verlag, 2017) Gündüz, Orhan; Bakar, Coşkun; Şimşek, Celalettin; Baba, Alper; Elçi, Alper; Gürleyük, Hakan; Mutlu, Merdiye; Çakır, AyşeThis study is intended to compare and assess the distribution and possible causes of current chronic diseases in villages with high arsenic levels in drinking water supplies. It is a cross-sectional epidemiological research that analyzes the frequency and underlying risk factors of chronic diseases in villages with varying levels of arsenic exposure through drinking water. Sample space of study included 1003 individuals, 614 of whom were from villages with high arsenic levels in drinking water and remaining 389 were from two control villages with below-limit arsenic levels in drinking water. While nutritional habits and living environments of two groups were similar, cigarette smoking and alcohol use were higher in villages with low arsenic levels. Mini mental state examination test results in 60+ age group were lower in villages with high arsenic levels. Although no statistically significant differences were detected in chronic disease occurrence between the groups, the number of cases was higher in villages with higher percentage of cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Moreover, cases of lung, colon, and stomach cancers were higher in villages with high arsenic levels in drinking water supplies.Article Citation - WoS: 14Citation - Scopus: 17Blowout Mechanism of Alasehir (turkey) Geothermal Field and Its Effects on Groundwater Chemistry(Springer Verlag, 2017) Rabet, Rita Sandrina; Şimşek, Celalettin; Baba, Alper; Murathan, AlimAnatolia region is one of the most seismically active regions in the world and has a considerably high level of geothermal energy potential. Some of these geothermal resources have been used for power generation and direct heating. Most of the high enthalpy geothermal systems are located in western part of Turkey. Alasehir is the most important geothermal site in western part of Turkey. Many geothermal wells have been drilled in Alasehir Plain to produce the geothermal fluid from the deep reservoir in the last 10 years. A blowout accident happened during a geothermal well drilling operation in Alasehir Plain, and significant amount of geothermal fluid surfaced out along the fault zone in three locations. When drilling string entered the reservoir rock about 1000 m, blowout occurred. As the well head preventer system was closed because of the blowout, high-pressure fluid surfaced out along the fault zone cutting the Neogene formation. In order to understand the geothermal fluid effects on groundwater chemistry, physical and chemical compositions of local cold groundwater were monitored from May 2012 to September 2014 in the study area. The geothermal fluid was found to be of Na–HCO3 water type, and especially, arsenic and boron concentrations reached levels as high as 3 and 127 mg/L, respectively. The concentrations of arsenic and boron in the geothermal fluid and groundwater exceeded the maximum allowable limits given in the national and international standards for drinking water quality. According to temporally monitored results, geothermal fluid has extremely high mineral content which influenced the quality of groundwater resources of the area where water resource is commonly used for agricultural irrigation.Conference Object Citation - Scopus: 4High Arsenic Levels in Groundwater Resources of Gediz Graben, Western Turkey(CRC Press, 2016) Baba, Alper; Gündüz, Orhan; Şimşek, Celalettin; Elçi, Alper; Sözbilir, Hasan; Murathan, AlimGediz Graben situated in western Turkey is an area containing extensional structures with active tectonics and geothermal systems that serves as a suitable environment for the presence of high levels of arsenic (As) in groundwater. The results of a comprehensive monitoring program in the basin revealed that the maximum As concentration detected during the monitoring program was 3086 ppb and the average value was calculated to be 23.63 ppb. In addition, As levels in 28% of the water samples were above the 10 ppb limit value making them unsuitable for drinking water supply. These high As concentrations in the basin was mostly associated with long detention times of water in altered rocks located along detachment faults, strong water–rock interaction processes in the alteration zones and anthropogenic influences made within the geothermal fluid reservoir. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London.Article Citation - WoS: 27Citation - Scopus: 31Statistical Analysis of Causes of Death (2005-2010) in Villages of Simav Plain, Turkey, With High Arsenic Levels in Drinking Water Supplie(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2015) Gündüz, Orhan; Bakar, Coşkun; Şimşek, Celalettin; Baba, Alper; Elçi, Alper; Gürleyük, Hakan; Mutlu, Merdiye; Çakır, AyşeThe purpose of this research was to compare the causes of death in 5 villages situated in Simav Plain, Turkey, during 2005-2010 where different arsenic levels were detected in drinking water supplies. Since groundwater in Simav Plain had arsenic concentrations that ranged between 7.1 and 833.9 ppb, a two-phase research was formulated. In the first phase, public health surveys were conducted with 1,003 villagers to determine the distribution of diseases. In the second phase, verbal autopsy surveys and official death records were used to investigate the causes of death. In total, 402 death cases were found in the study area where cardiovascular system diseases (44%) and cancers (15.2%) were major causes. Cancers of lung (44.3%), prostate (9.8%), colon (9.8%), and stomach (8.2%) were comparably higher in villages with high arsenic levels in drinking water supplies. Furthermore, the majority of cases of liver, bladder, and stomach cancers were observed in villages with high arsenic levels. © 2015 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 2Sample Collection Into Sterile Vacuum Tubes To Preserve Arsenic Speciation in Natural Water Samples(American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2013) Gündüz, Orhan; Gürleyük, Hakan; Çakır, Ayşe; Elçi, Alper; Baba, Alper; Şimşek, CelalettinThe accurate speciation analysis of arsenic is a serious concern for water quality monitoring programs. Because the preservation of sample integrity until analysis is one of the most important aspects of speciation, this study aims to compare the performance of four different sample preservation methods under diverse conditions of sample quality. Natural samples with different characteristics were collected into the following containers to study their effectiveness: (1) standard high-density polyethylene bottle with no preservative; (2) empty, sterile Vacuette tube with no preservative; (3) sterile tripotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (K3EDTA) Vacuette tube with K3EDTA additive; and (4) empty, sterile Vacuette tube with added hydrochloric acid (HCl). Known concentrations of arsenite [As(III)] were also added to each container to monitor the oxidation of As(III) to arsenate [As(V)]. The results revealed recovery ratios exceeding 95% in all containers with sterile vacuum conditions. In particular, the K3EDTA Vacuette tube yielded a recovery very close to 100% of the spiked As(III), which is known to rapidly oxidize to As(V). Overall, collecting the sample into a container under sterile vacuum conditions and using a universally accepted preserving agent such as EDTA or HCl significantly improved the preservation of the original species distribution in the water matrix studied, compared to sampling without the use of preservation methods. After validation by future research, these sterile vacuum tubes can possibly be utilized for collecting and storing samples for the routine speciation analysis of other elements such as selenium, chromium, and antimony.