Assessment of Groundwater Quality for Different Aquifers in Halaib and Shalatien Area at South Eastern Desert of Egypt تقییم جودة المیاه الجوفیة للخزانات الصخریة الجوفیة المختلفة فى منطقة حلایب وشلاتین جنوب الصحراء الشرقیة – مصر

Abstract

This work aims at assessing the groundwater quality in Halaib and Shalatien area, the main water resource for irrigation and civic utilization is groundwater (springs and wells). The groundwater aquifers in this area could be classified into three aquifer systems according to their litho-stratigraphic as follows: Fractured basement aquifer system, Nubian sandstone aquifer system and Quaternary aquifer system. 13 samples from different aquifer systems were taken in the study area; four samples were taken from groundwaters of fractured basement aquifer, eight from the Nubian sandstone aquifer and one from the Quaternary aquifer. Assessment in terms of salinity and sodicity hazards according to USDA (1954). Evaluation of groundwater quality using irrigation water quality index (IWQI) method was established by Meireles et al. (2010) for agricultural purposes with help of the Geographic Information System (GIS) technique. Five chemical parameters were utilized to calculate the IWQI including EC, Na+, Cl-, HCO3- and SAR. The IWQI map results showed that 46.2 % of the samples classified as low restricted are suitable for irrigation directly without any processing, 23.1% of the samples classified as moderate to highly restricted and can be used only in soils with high permeability values, recommended leaching of salts to avoid soil degradation. The remaining (30.7%) of the studied samples classified as severe restricted are suitable only for soils that have high permeability values applied the excess of water for leaching to avoid the accumulation of salt. In brief, these samples should be avoided its use for irrigation under normal conditions.