Abstract
Leakage of contaminated, acidic, and salty waste water from a chemical industrial complex in the Negev
desert, Israel, resulted in increased salinity of the water in the regional carbonate aquifer. Changes in
concentrations of the major elements and some ionic ratios enabled delineating the mixing process of the
waste water in the aquifer. Although the waste water is enriched in trace elements, no noticeable change
in their concentrations was detected in the contaminated aquifer. The removal of the trace elements is
attributed to adsorption that was enabled by a rise in the pH of the contaminated water as it comes in
contact with the carbonate host rock.