ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY USING RS AND GIS TECHNIQUES BASED ON MICROBIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS IN EL-ARISH AREA, NORTH SINAI, EGYPT

Authors

1 Dept. Soil and Water, Fac. Environ. Agric. Sci., Suez Canal Univ., Arish, Egypt.

2 Dept. Soil and water, Fac. Agric., Suez Canal Univ., Ismailia, Egypt.

Abstract

Groundwater quality evaluation in developing countries has become a critical issue due to fresh water scarcity. Groundwater is a valuable resource in Egypt, including Sinai, and it is a vital source for drinking water. It is necessary to consider the effects of land use change on groundwater resources when making land use decisions. Landsat-8 was used to generate land use/land cover map using ENVI 5.1 program using 20 well water samples collected from El-Arish area, North Sinai. Four classes were identified: barren land, vegetation, sand dunes and built up area. A GIS-based model was developed to assess groundwater contamination in the study area and its hazard on health and irrigation. A spatial prediction maps showing the potential hazard areas and area at risk due to contaminations was developed using kriging method on Arc GIS 10.2 program. The results show that some of wells were at risk and contaminated with E. coli and heavy metals. In microbiological examinations (E. coli examination as indicator on coliform contamination) well number 3 and 13 recorded high contamination, Well No. 1, 7 and 12 recorded moderate, two wells (9 and 16) have low contamination, while the rest wells have no E. coli detection. Moreover, the result were compared with World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization standards;  Pb, U, Mn and Cr were above the WHO limits for drinking, Se was above FAO limits for irrigation purposes. Therefore, more precaution should be considered in order to use this particular water in specified area for both drinking and irrigation purposes.

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