Environmental Impacts of Treated Wastewater Contaminates on Groundwater Quality in the Nile River Valley, Egypt

Abstract

AbstractIncreased demand for domestic water as a result of population growth improved living conditions increased water use in agriculture, and industrial development would increase the overall amount of wastewater. Untreated or partially treated wastewater discharge into open streams raises the risk of surface and groundwater contamination. Non-traditional solutions are urgently needed to prevent the degradation of groundwater quality caused by the long-term effect of the treated wastewater contaminants in Egypt. Thus, the aquifer vulnerability zones should be identified for the planning and implementation of the sustainability strategy pursued by all world countries to conserve groundwater resources. This chapter provided an overview about the effect of treated wastewater disposals on groundwater in the Nile River valley, an analysis the conclusions of the essential related studies, and the latest methodologies used for determining hazard zones of the Nile River quaternary aquifer. Satellite remote sensing and Geographical Information System techniques (GIS) have been worldwide developed to collect data needed to observe different groundwater in several regions across the world. Accordingly, these tools are lower cost and more useful instruments for measuring water quality parameters in groundwater than in situ investigations where measurements are limited to select sampling points. The review and analysis of many studies concerning the regression of groundwater quality of quaternary aquifer in the Nile River valley (the most densely populated areas), showed that the main groundwater problems result from drains and the lack of monitoring control of the sewage system. Additionally, in this chapter, a case study was selected in North-East of Cairo due to the presence of effluent of the largest two traditional wastewater treatment plants in Egypt. The capability of the first plant (Gabal EL Asfar WWTP) is 2.5 million m3/day, and the second plant (El Berka WWTP) is 600,000 m3/day, in addition to the presence of Ismailia Canal, which is the most significant branches of the River Nile. The results indicated that the studied area was extremely polluted as a result of wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge. The results of the studies showed that BOD5, COD, NH4 and TSS were higher than the maximum acceptable limits, which negatively affected people's general health in the vicinity of these areas and the irrigation water. This chapter's outcomes may allow developers and decision-makers to decide the regions need critical and special treatment.KeywordsGroundwater Quality; Contaminations; Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)Water quality index (WQI)Geographical information system (GIS)Nile River Valley aquifer