الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Groundwater is an important resource for fresh water throughout the world. Nowadays, there is growing demand for it to supply drinking, irrigation and industrial sectors. In Egypt, most of the governorates are similarly depend on groundwater for drinking water production but with different ratios. This is mainly due to its availability, quality and absence of surface water or other alternatives. Nevertheless, the occurrence of high content of iron and manganese in groundwater cause changes in color, taste, turbidity and odor of drinking water due to oxidation. Moreover, iron and manganese oxides precipitate in the water distribution systems and reduce the flow through pipes and eventually clogging them. In general, occurrence of Fe and Mn cause aesthetic and operational problems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the distribution of iron and manganese contents at the different sectors of El- Sharkia governorate. This governorate has high dependence on groundwater (30%) for drinking water production and the iron and manganese contents show a wide range. One district (Dyarb Negm) is selected as a hot spot for detailed investigations. The selected district is solely depends on groundwater for drinking water supply. Also the study aims to Establish a proper design parameters for wells optimization and propose a sustainability plan to secure good quality of the produced water. The present study was carried out through collection and analyzing of water samples from drinking water wells along two years 2014/2015 and running statistical analysis and mapping the obtained data. The results have shown a mild distribution for iron and manganese contents. The average iron concentrations range from zero to 1.23 mg/l while the average manganese contents range from zero and 2.12 mg/l. The high levels of concentrations are distributed along the western and the southern parts of the governorate. The other parts of the governorate, at most of the wells, have Fe and Mn contents less than the Egyptian drinking water standards; not to exceed 0.3 and 0.4 mg/l for iron and manganese, respectively. The study proved that, changing the screen depth to a proper depth is affecting the distribution of Fe and Mn levels in groundwater, also mixing (with 1:1 ratio) the underground water with treated drinking water, can minimizing the concentration of Fe and Mn to approximately half of that of the original samples. |