Studying the effect of channel geometry on different water quality variables for effective designs and waste allocation plans for waterways

Abstract

It is necessary to study the parameters that affect water quality in order to devise mitigation measures if water quality would be at risk or negatively affected by those parameters. Those parameters are physical, chemical, biological, and hydraulic characteristics. This research will study the effect of channel geometry on different water quality variables, which is important in designing new irrigation canals in order to see how its geometry will affect water quality and lessen any negative impact if possible also this study could aid in designing more reliable waste allocation plans for waterways. The studied geometric characteristics are top width, bottom width, water depth, side-slopes and channel length. Sheikh Zayed canal in Egypt is taken as the reference case study canal. Studied water quality variables are algae, nutrients, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), pH, alkalinity and total inorganic carbon. It was found that concentrations of all water quality variables in water changed as a result of changing channel geometry. Some water quality variables such as algae, nutrients, and TSS are greatly affected, whereas others such as pH, alkalinity and total inorganic carbon are slightly affected.