Abstract
Background: The growing increase in Egyptian population, as well as urbanization expansion; lead to a corresponding increase in industrial, agriculture, urban effluents that discharged into the aquatic environment of Egypt. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the alteration occurred in some water quality characteristics of different water bodies subjected to different types of pollutants. Methods: Different physicochemical parameters, nutrient salts, total dissolved copper, and total dissolved carbohydrate were measured according to advanced experimental methods and analytical techniques. Results: The results of the hydrochemical parameters revealed that the temperature ranges for Abu-Qir drain waste water and Abu-Qir Bay seawater were normal. The values of salinity for waste water and seawater were (0.19-0.43‰) and (30.2-32.2‰), respectively which are much lower than that of the Mediterranean seawater (38.50‰) due to the discharge of huge amounts of fresh waters into Abu-Qir Bay. The pH values varied from one drain to another according to the geographical position and the amount of waste waters discharged into the area. Dissolved oxygen for waste water and seawater are ranged from a complete depletion to 9.42 mg/l and from 4.53to 4.87mg/l, respectively. On the meantime the range values of oxidizable organic matter for waste water and seawater were 21.6-84.0mg/l and 14.4-42.4mg/l, respectively reflecting the high loads of organic matters added into Abu-Qir drain from different companies. On the other hand, the range values of ammonia varied between 10.20 and 95.6μM for waste water and between 7.50 and 10.10μM for seawater; respectively leading to eutrophication problems in the Bay. The nitrite for waste water and seawater were 2.60-32.40μM and 5.33-6.30μM, respectively, while the range values of nitrate for waste water and seawater were 0.74-36.74μM and 3.51-13.51μM; respectively. The range values of phosphate for waste water were 3.36-21.36μM, while it was 1.30-11.62μM for seawater. It is found that the amount of phosphate in the seawater is small compared to that of waste waters. Generally speaking, the waste and seawaters of the investigated area exhibited high silicate concentrations. Dissolved copper concentrations in Abu-Qir drain and Abu-Qir Bay ranged from 2.80 to 11.58μg/l and from 4.80 to 5.68μg/l; respectively. The range values of TDCHO for wastewater was 0.16-0.92μg/l and for seawater was 0.77-3.15μg/l. Conclusion: It is concluded from factor analysis (FA) that the investigated hydrochemical parameters are the major controlling factors in the distribution patterns of copper and TDCHO in both Abu-Qir drain and Abu-Qir Bay affecting seriously their water quality.
Highlights
Coastal waters, including estuaries, bays and wetlands represent a resource of enormous economic and environmental value, attracting industry, commerce, and human population to the coastal areas
The growing increase in Egyptian population, as well as urbanization expansion; lead to a corresponding increase in industrial, agriculture, urban effluents that discharged into the aquatic environment of Egypt [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15], leading to water quality deterioration
Oxidizable organic matter (OOM) was determined by the method described by FAO [31]
Summary
Coastal waters, including estuaries, bays and wetlands represent a resource of enormous economic and environmental value, attracting industry, commerce, and human population to the coastal areas. There are many human activities and coastal development actions take place along the coast area of Abu Qir Bay causing many marine problems. Results: The results of the hydrochemical parameters revealed that the temperature ranges for AbuQir drain waste water and Abu-Qir Bay seawater were normal. On the meantime the range values of oxidizable organic matter for waste water and seawater were 21.6-84.0mg/l and 14.4-42.4mg/l, respectively reflecting the high loads of organic matters added into Abu-Qir drain from different companies. Conclusion: It is concluded from factor analysis (FA) that the investigated hydrochemical parameters are the major controlling factors in the distribution patterns of copper and TDCHO in both Abu-Qir drain and Abu-Qir Bay affecting seriously their water quality
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