Assessment of Water Quality and Bed Sediments of the Nile River from Aswan to Assiut, Egypt

Abstract

The Nile River water quality and its bed sediments were studied for two successive years (2011 and 2012) at ten sites along the Nile River from Aswan to Assiut during low and high flow conditions. Physical and chemical water quality parameters were measured according to the standard methods, such as temperature, turbidity, water electrical conductivity (EC), total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS), pH value, dissolved oxygen (DO), nutrients, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), major anions and cations, hardness, heavy metals, and fecal coliform bacteria. The water quality along the Nile in the study area is classified as medium to good quality. It changes from low to high flow and from one place to another according to human activities. The water pollution was higher during the low flow than the high flow except for the nutrients due to low agricultural activities during low flow periods. However, in general, the Nile River water quality was suitable for human consumption and other domestic uses according to the WHO standards. The bed-sediment samples were used for grain size analysis, pH measurements, organic matter content, phosphates, nitrates, and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, nickel, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, and barium). This chapter inspects the water quality of the Nile River and pollution of its bed sediments in Egypt.