The effect of human activities on the pollution of water in
southwest Giza area, Egypt
Elsayed M. Abu El Ella, Ahmed A. Elnazer and Salman A. Salman
ABSTRACT
Southwest Giza area is one of the most complicated regions in Egypt because of the combination of
agricultural, industrial and urbanization activities with few studies about water resources
contamination with heavy metals. In this study, ten surface water samples and eight groundwater
samples were collected and analyzed for pollution with Fe, Mn, As, Cr, Cd, Pb and Cu. The samples
were collected randomly according to the topographic locations and accessibility. The surface water
is suitable for both drinking and irrigation use according to its salinity (total dissolved solids, TDS <
500 mg/l) and content of major ions. Unfortunately, some samples contain concentrations of As, Cd,
Cu and Pb higher than the WHO drinking water guidelines. The groundwater samples have TDS
ranging from 204 to 2,100 mg/l. Also, the groundwater contains higher concentrations of Fe, Mn and
As than surface water. The highest concentrations of heavy metals As, Cd and Pb were recorded in
the desert fringes and close to the industrial complexes indicating the role of geological sediments in
the transportation and migration of pollutants. The unconfined part of the Quaternary aquifer in the
desert fringes is more vulnerable to contamination. The results of this study reflect the role of human
and industrial activates in polluting water resources with heavy metals, which puts the aquatic
environment in the study area under stress.
Elsayed M. Abu El Ella
Geology Department, Faculty of Science,
Assiut University,
Assiut 71516,
Egypt
Ahmed A. Elnazer (corresponding author)
Salman A. Salman
Geological Sciences Department,
National Research Centre,
33 El Bohouth Street (Formerly El Tahrir Street),
P.O. Box 12622,
Dokki,
Giza,
Egypt
E-mail: nazer42@yahoo.com
Key words | agriculture, groundwater, heavy metals, industry, pollution, River Nile
INTRODUCTION
One of the major environmental hazards in some parts of
the world is the pollution of water resources with heavy
metals (Matong et al. ). The pollution of aquatic environ-
ments with these metals can be poisonous and affect not
only humans but also fish and other aquatic organisms (Zei-
toun & Mehana ). Some heavy metals (e.g. Fe, Mn, Cu
and Cr) have a biochemical importance and are considered
as micronutrients at low concentrations. But others such as
As, Cd, Pb and Hg may cause cancer, renal failure, brain and
liver damage (Patel et al. ; Zakir et al. ; Melegy et al.
). Many industrial zones were constructed on both the
banks of the River Nile without concern for water and soil
pollution (Mahmoud & Ghoneim ). More than 549 ×
10
6
m
3
/yr of industrial wastewater (El-Sheekh ) are
discharged into the River Nile from about 700 factories
(Hussein ). Industrial wastewater always contains high
concentrations of harmful microorganisms, organics,
heavy metals and solid substances (Ali et al. ). The
study area is located in south Giza on the western bank of
the Nile River between longitudes 31
W
13
0
08″ and 31
W
19
0
53″ and latitudes 29
W
46
0
40″ and 29
W
54
0
00″ (Figure 1).
The study area included many big industries such as sugar,
chemical, wood and red brick factories. In addition, the
area includes continuing urbanization, tourism and agricul-
ture activities. Sugar and chemical industries at Giza are one
of the most important pollution sources of the River Nile
(Ali et al. ). Zaki et al.() highlighted the role of
agro-industries (Sugar factory in Abo Qurqas city and
1368 © IWA Publishing 2017 Water Science & Technology: Water Supply | 17.5 | 2017
doi: 10.2166/ws.2017.038
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