Hydrogeochemical characteristics of the groundwater in the quaternary aquifer of western fringes of El-Minia Governorate, Egypt using an integration of geochemical modeling and geo-statistical techniques

Abstract

Groundwater is a very important source of drinking and irrigation water especially in areas with little to no surface water sources. In the western desert of Egypt, groundwater acts as the main source of irrigation in the new reclamation project. The authors of the article used major constituents and trace elements chemistry as well as bacteriological and biological water analysis to assess the hydrogeochemical characteristics in the western bank of the River Nile, West El-Minia District. In order to fulfill the scope of work for this study, 88 groundwater samples were collected from the Pleistocene aquifer which represents the main aquifer in the study area. The groundwater samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na-, K+), major anions (HCO3-, SO42- and Cl-) and trace metals (Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, As, Hg, Se, Al, Cd, Cr, B, and Fe). Microbiological and microscopic studies of the collected water samples were carried out to determine the micro-organisms' in order to confirm the safety of the water for human consumption. Also, statistical analysis and hydrogeochemical modeling were used to interpret the collected data. The study revealed that in all the collected water samples, alkaline earth metals have values higher than alkalies and are of meteoric origin. The groundwater chemistry is mainly controlled by rock weathering with a secondary contribution from anthropogenic sources. Forty-nine percent (49%) of analyzed water samples have trace constituents above the recommended limits for water use for drinking and irrigation purposes. The highest linear correlation was shown between TDS and EC, HCO3, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, all macro-components and chlorides, between boron and chrome, as well as cobalt and lead. All sampled waters were classified as Ca-HCO3 water type and calcite precipitate in all collected water samples.