A physical and chemical analysis of Egypt's Wadi El‐Raiyan man made lakes

Abstract

Abstract Detailed physical and chemical analyses of selected sites in and around two Wadi El‐Raiyan lakes in the El‐Faiyum Province of Egypt were conducted over a two‐year period. The man‐made lakes were created in early 1973 as a reservoir for agricultural irrigation drainage water. The water created a surface area of about 200 square kilometers in a depressed area in the western desert of Egypt, and the evaporation coupled with very low precipitation has led to a rapid increase in salinity and trace metal content. The salinity was 0.5 g/L (ppt) at the water inputs the lakes coming from the tunnel of Wadi El‐Raiyan and then increased gradually to about 1.0 ppt in the first lake and to an average of 2.0 in the second lake. Salinity of the water springs were constant, however, salinity of the seepage area increased dramatically to 7 ppt. Water pH was very much the same throughout the lakes being neutral to slightly basic (7.8 ‐ 8.8). Heavy metals concentration in water was very low, much below the recommen...