Using geochemical models to delineate the relationship between the Pleistocene aquifer groundwater and the oxidation ponds at El-Sadat city, Egypt

Abstract

This study aims to assess the risk of the wastewater plume from the oxidation ponds contaminating the underneath shallow groundwater aquifer. The study area is an industrial city comprised of three main zones: industrial, populated, and agricultural. The study area is bordered on the eastern side by a wastewater pond and the Rosseta Nile river branch. The geochemical investigation is based on the determination of groundwater salinity, major ions, nitrogen compounds (NH4−, NO2−, NO3−), phosphate (PO43−), heavy metals, and the isotopic content (δ18O and δ2H) as well as the geochemical groundwater modeling. The results show most groundwater samples (50%) in the study area are freshwater, 31% are marginal saline water, and 18% are brackish. Higher nitrogen and PO43− compound concentrations are found in the shallow groundwater close to the oxidation ponds and populated zone. The δ18O and δ2H in the Quaternary groundwater is relatively depleted; they range from −2.1 to 2.3‰ and −7 to 21‰, respectively. The integrations of the geochemistry and isotopes show that the Pleistocene aquifer receives considerable recharge percent (14–56%) from the Rosseta Nile river branch and has been polluted due to the seepage from the oxidation ponds (seepage percent range: 0.6–3.6%). The results suggest that excessive fertilizer usage in the agricultural zone, seepage from oxidation ponds into the subsurface aquifer, and the anthropological effects of population size and industrial zones all contribute to the decline in groundwater quality. The highly vulnerable groundwater sites extend from the northeastern areas close to the oxidation ponds and the southwestern areas close to the industrial and populated zones.