Aquaculture Research. 2020;00:1–15. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/are | 1 © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 | INTRODUCTION Aquaculture is the culturing of aquatic organisms such as fish, crus- taceans, molluscs and aquatic plants for various purposes under con- trolled conditions. It plays a big part in the global aquatic organism breeding especially fish (Frankic & Hershner, 2003; USAID, 2013). However, it should be developed in ecologically sustainable manners that make the use of natural environment without harming the envi- ronment. In view of sustainable sanitation and water management, the use of treated wastewater for aquaculture will make more use of water and nutrient resources particularly as fresh water become increasingly scarce. Aquaculture demand is increasing with respect to population growth to overcome or fulfil the food demand of people all over the world (FAO, 2016). Jordan is in-need of fish farming sector develop- ment because the local production can barely fulfil two per cent of the market need (FAO, 2003). Due to lack of experience and limited scientific research in fish farming, Jordan faces many problems re- lated to the type of fish that suits Jordan's environmental condi- tions, water availability and quality, fodder and finagling's availability (Hamidan, 2014). Based on that and due to increasing serious threat of water shortage in Jordan, studying and exploring the ability of ecosystems consisting of fully treated wastewater or mixed with freshwater to sustain an aquaculture in healthy way is of high im- portance. The importance of sustainable aquaculture comes from its vital role in achieving directly and/or indirectly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The success or failure of fish culturing is determined to great extent by understanding the physical, chemical and biological qual- ities of water. Physico-chemical parameters mainly pH, alkalinity, conductivity, water transparency, chlorophyll (a) (Chl (a)), total phos- phorus and nitrogen could be identified and tested as indicators of water quality (OCDE, 1982; Palmer & Roy, 2001; Rimann, 2001; Wetzel, 2001). Optimal water quality varies by species and must Received: 2 August 2020 | Revised: 1 October 2020 | Accepted: 24 October 2020 DOI: 10.1111/are.14985 ORIGINAL ARTICLE First assessment of water quality of an artificial lake for fish culture and irrigation: A case study of water reuse in water shortage area across the Middle East Muna AbuDalo 1 | Mohammad El-khateeb 1 | Habib Ayadi 2 | Bashar Al-Rahahleh 3 | Azza Jaradat 1 | Wassim Guermazi 2 1 Chemistry Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan 2 Laboratory of Marine Biodiversity and Environment (LR18ES/30), University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia 3 Livestock Department, National Agricultural Research Center, Baqa, Jordan Correspondence Muna AbuDalo, Chemistry Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O Box 3030 22110 Jordan. Email: maabudalo@just.edu.jo Funding information Research Support Fund, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Jordan, Grant/Award Number: WE/01/12/2017 Abstract Although the application of treated wastewater in irrigation is a common practice in Jordan, there are no studies on its use in fish culture. In this study, physical, chemi- cal and biological characteristics of an artificial lake containing mixture of treated wastewater and rainwater were assessed to examine whether the nutrient loading is sufficient for fish culture. The study also evaluated the suitability of the lake's water quality for irrigation after fish farming. The study was conducted in outdoor tanks fed with water from the artificial lake and stocked with three types of fish (Tilapia, Carp and Koi). The diversity of phytoplankton communities in the lake's produces natural food for Carp and Koi and promotes their growth with maximum per cent survival of 89% and 56% respectively. In addition, remarkable improvement in all water quality parameters after fish culture was observed. KEYWORDS Carp, fish culture, Koi, phytoplankton, Tilapia, water quality criteria