Groundwater Potentiality and Suitability for Drinking and Irrigation in the New Valley, Western Desert, Egypt | ||
| Assiut Journal of Agricultural Sciences | ||
| Article 1, Volume 45, Issue 2, June 2014, Pages 113-124 PDF (625.6 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ajas.2013.636 | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Egypt is facing increasing water demand by the rapidly growing population, increased urbanizations, higher standards of living and the agricultural policy which emphasizes expanding crop production in order to feed the growing population. The Western Desert of Egypt is considered as important area for expansion depending on the groundwater resources. The groundwater needs more studies regarding its quantity, quality and sustainability for irrigation and drinking purposes. The Nubian sandstone aquifer system (NSAS) is considered as one of the most significant and potable groundwater basins in the world; it is the only water resource for most of the areas sharing its valuable reserve. It extends over a vast area in Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Chad. The area occupied by the aquifer extends between lat 15° and 25° N and long 20° and 35 ° E. The area of the Nubian aquifer system of Eastern Sahara is about 2.35 millions km2. It encompasses some 850000 km2 in Egypt (670000 km2 in Western Desert, including the area known as Wadi Elgidid (New Valley) CEDARE (2000) and Sefelnasr (2007). The current study aims to evaluate the groundwater potentiality and suitability for drinking and irrigation in the New Valley, Western Desert, Egypt. This evaluation includes analysis for the cations: Na+, K+, Ca++ and Mg++ and the anions: Cl-, HCO3 - and SO4 2-, soluble heavy metals (Fe and Mn). Values of pH, TDS and EC of the groundwater samples in El Kharga and El Dakhla Oases were determined. The results were compared with the standards such as: Egyptian standard (2007), WHO (2006) and FAO standard (1980). Result concluded that soluble iron is the major problem for drinking water, since only 2.4% of the studied samples were in the safe limits for drinking. 42.8% of the studied samples are in the safe limits for the modern irrigation systems. Dealing with manganese, 89.8% of the studied wells were in the safe limits for drinking and there is no problem in irrigation. The soluble salts in the groundwater were at the safe level for drinking and irrigation | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Potentiality, Suitability, Evaluation, Groundwater, New Valley,; Western Desert, Hydrochemical analysis, Anions, Cations, Heavy metals,; Iron, Manganese, Total dissolved solids (TDS); Groundwater potentiality and suitability for drinking and agriculture in the; New Valley, Western Desert, Egypt | ||
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