Chemical and bacteriological impacts of wastewater on the water resources at atfih area, giza governorate, Egypt

Abstract

THE PRESENT work is aimed to detect the pollutants in the water resources (surface water and groundwater) and their impact on human health as well as evaluate these water resources for different purposes at Atfih area which occupies the southern portion of Giza governorate. To achieve the aim of the present study, fifty water samples (surface water and groundwater samples) are collected during March (2016) and chemically analyzed for detection of inorganic and bacteriological pollutants. Drinking and agriculture in this area depend mainly on the water of Nile River and two main canals namely El Khashab and Masjid Musa canals as well as groundwater. The results indicated that, El Khashab and Masjid Musa canals are subjected to pollution from different sources. Also, the shallow groundwater tapped from the near surface quaternary deposits is also subjected to pollution. The so-called El Saff wastewater canal represents one of the main sources of pollution for the water resources in the study area. This canal runs longitudinally for about 50km along the foot slopes of the eastern Eocene escarpment. All the detected pollutants are considered very serious to people's health. The most important pollution problem sources include the wastewater produced from the industrial complex at Helwan area in addition to the wastewater discharged from El Saff wastewater canal into the Nile River and its canals. On the other hand, the excessive seepage of drainage water rich in fertilizers and pesticides causes pollution for groundwater. Majority of surface water (El Khashab and Masjid Musa canals) samples and groundwater samples in the study area are unsuitable for drinking as they have Fe, Sr, B and NO3-more than that of the permissible limit.In conclusion, most of the surface water and groundwater samples in the study area are suitable for irrigation.