Abstract
BackgroundThe River Nile became under stress in the last decades from the different human (anthropogenic) activities. The present work dealt with the River Nile water quality from Qena to Sohag districts, Egypt. Sixty water samples were collected during 2016 winter and summer and subjected to chemical analysis according to standard methods.ResultsThe results indicated temporal and spatial variations in the chemical content of the collected water samples. The samples showed higher concentrations of Ca, Cl, Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Zn during summer than winter, owing to intensive human activities during summer such as navigation and agricultural and industrial activities. The samples enriched with pH, TDS, Mg, Na, K, HCO3, SO4, and NO3 during winter, due to the small water column and slow flow-rate.ConclusionThe studied samples in winter and summer were unsuitable for drinking due to the recorded unacceptable concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, and Pb in the studied samples. The presence of As, Cd, Cr, and Pb may impact water consumer health because the used coagulation procedures in drinking water stations are not effective in the removal of these metals. The River Nile water is suitable for irrigation, except for some samples, which contain elevated concentrations of As and Cr. Finally, the River Nile protection laws must be strictly applied by national and international authorities to save its water quality.
Highlights
IntroductionThe River Nile became under stress in the last decades from the different human (anthropogenic) activities
The River Nile became under stress in the last decades from the different human activities
It has been reported that Egypt is one of the first 10 countries that will be suffering from water scarcity by the year 2025, due to the rapid population growth (Lawson 2011)
Summary
The River Nile became under stress in the last decades from the different human (anthropogenic) activities. The present work dealt with the River Nile water quality from Qena to Sohag districts, Egypt. The River Nile is the main source of fresh water in Egypt. The River Nile passes through 10 countries and gets its water from three Tributaries; the Blue Nile (68%), Atbara (22%) and the White Nile (10%) (Garzanti et al 2015). The Blue Nile and Atbara, together with its tributary the Tekeze, are sourced in the Ethiopian Highlands, where they drain the flood basalts (Garzanti et al 2015). One of the major environmental hazards worldwide is the pollution of water resources with heavy metals (HMs). HMs are present naturally in river water with very low concentrations safe for aquatic biota and come mainly from the weathering of rocks and soils. The pollution of the aquatic environment with these metals can be poisonous and even killed the fish (Zeitoun and Mehana, 2014)
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