Abstract
Bank filtration (BF) is acknowledged as a sustainable and effective technique to provide drinking water of adequate quality; it has been known for a long time in Europe. However, this technique is site-specific and therefore its application in developing countries with different hydrologic and environment conditions remains limited. In this research, a 3-discipline study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of the application of this technique in Aswan City (Egypt). Firstly, a hydrological model was developed to identify key environmental factors that influence the effectiveness of BF, and to formulate plans for the design and management of the BF system. Secondly, water samples were collected for one year (January 2017 to December 2017) from the water sources and monitoring wells to characterize the bank-filtrate quality. Lastly, an economic study was conducted to compare the capital and operating costs of BF and the existing treatment techniques. The results demonstrated that there is high potential for application of BF under such hydrological and environmental conditions. However, there are some aspects that could restrict the BF efficacy and must therefore be considered during the design process. These include the following: (i) Over-pumping practices can reduce travel time, and thus decrease the efficiency of treatment; (ii) Locating the wells near the surface water systems (<50 m) decreases the travel time to the limit (<10 days), and thus could restrict the treatment capacity. In such case, a low pumping rate must be applied; (iii) the consequences of lowering the surface water level can be regulated through the continuous operation of the wells. Furthermore, laboratory analysis indicated that BF is capable of producing high quality drinking water. However, an increase in organic matter (i.e., humics) concentration was observed in the pumped water, which increases the risk of trihalomethanes being produced if post-chlorination is implemented. The economic study ultimately demonstrated that BF is an economic and sustainable technique for implementation in Aswan City to address the demand for potable water.
Highlights
Access to potable drinking water is a major challenge confronting water service providers in arid and semi-arid countries owing to dwindling water quantity and quality
The main objective of this study was to analyze the performance of Bank filtration (BF) in Aswan City (Egypt) as an example of an arid climate region and to use the results to suggest guidelines to facilitate the application of BF in Egypt and countries with a similar hydrological regime
This study demonstrated that the bank-filtrate share in specific BF wells did not exceed 10% after construction and operation of BF abstraction wells for
Summary
Access to potable drinking water is a major challenge confronting water service providers in arid and semi-arid countries owing to dwindling water quantity and quality. Egypt, where the annual growth rate of the population is high (1.9%) [1]. Egyptian water treatment plants produce approximately 22.1 million m3 of drinking water daily; the production capacity of potable water remains ten times less than the consumption rate [2]. The current conventional water treatment plants cannot produce drinking water with adequate quality owing to the pollution of the surface water systems. One hundred and twenty eight agricultural and industrial drains discharge water with a high load of chemical pollutants to the
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