Abstract
Hydrochemical and isotopic researches were conducted in El-Sadat City groundwater system to identify groundwater alteration, recharge, residence time and extent of pollution. The groundwater salinity gradually increases as the groundwater moves from northeastern to southwestern parts of the city. Groundwater generally shows mineralization decreasing with depth, indicating that the possibility of recent water penetration far below the surface is limited. Shallow groundwater has an elevated level of nitrate, which is attributed to anthropogenic sources due to intensive agricultural activity. The limit of high nitrate water may mark the maximum penetration of groundwater from the surface, which is found in depths <100 m. The northeastern and southwestern industrial areas are highly contaminated by some heavy metals, which may originate from some local industrial effluents. The sewage oxidation ponds seem to show no effect on groundwater; hence, these ponds are not a point source for these heavy metals. Dissolved ions depict five different hydrochemical facies, and stable isotopes define the recharge mechanisms, the origin of groundwater and the hydraulic confinement of deep groundwater. The deep groundwater is untritiated and has long residence times (in the order of thousands of years). Three different hydrochemical groups have been recognized and mapped in El-Sadat City, based on the chemical and isotopic information of the groundwater. These groups have different levels of contamination. The deep groundwater samples are significantly less impacted by surface activities and it appears that these important water resources have very low recharge rates and would, therefore, be severely impacted by overabstraction. The extensive exploitation of groundwater for drinking water supply would shortly be reflected by a gradual decline of the groundwater table in El-Sadat City. Amelioration of groundwater quality requires further management strategies and efforts in the forthcoming years.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abd El-Baki AA (1983) Hydrogeological and hydrochemical studies on the area west of the Rossetta branch and south of El-Nasr canal. Dissertation, Ain Shams University, Egypt
Abd El-Samie SG, Sadek MA (2001) Groundwater recharge and flow of the lower Cretaceous sandstone aquifer in Sinai Peninsula using isotopic techniques and hydrochemistry. Hydrogeol J 9:378–389
Abd El-Samie SG, El-Arabi N, Ahmed MA (2006) Use of stable isotopes to study the flow mechanism of the groundwater from the Nubia Sandstone aquifer to the overlying carbonate layers. Ann Geol Surv XXVIII:569–585
Ahmed MA (2008) Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of Quaternary aquifer in Sohag District, Upper Egypt. Arab J Nucl Sci Appl 41(1):129–146
Ahmed MA, El-Hemamy ST, Abd El-Samie SG (2005) Sources of water emanating from the quarrying locations in Abu Zaabal area, Egypt. Al-Azhar Bull Sci 16(2):39–54
Ahmed MA, Aly AIM, Hussien RA (2007) Assessment of anthropogenic pollution in groundwater in Northeast Cairo using nitrogen-15 technique. Arab J Nucl Sci Appl 40(3):55–70
Al-Kilany SM (2001) A new geoelectrical studies on groundwater aquifer, El-Sadat area and its vicinities Egypt. Dissertation, Menoufiya University, Egypt
Aly AIM, Mohamed MA (1982) Separation of ammonium and nitrate for isotopic analysis of nitrogen-15 using vacuum distillation method. Isotopenpraxis 19:67–69
APHA, AWWA, WPCF (1992) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 16th edn. APHA, Washington, DC
Chapelle FH, Knobel LL (1985) Stable carbon isotopes of HCO3 in the Aquia Aquifer, Maryland: evidence for an isotopically heavy source of CO2. Ground Water 23:592–599
Clark ID, Fritz P (1997) Environmental isotopes in hydrogeology. Lewis Publishers, New York
Craig H (1961) Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science 133:1702–1703
Dansgaard W (1964) Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16:436–468
El-Sayed SA (1999) Hydrogeological and isotope assessment of groundwater in Wadi El-Natrun and Sadat City, Egypt. Dissertation, Ain Shams University, Egypt
Fontes JC (1980) Environmental isotopes in groundwater hydrology. In: Fritz P, Fontes JC (eds) Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 75–140
Friberg L, Nordberg GF, Vonk VB (1986) Handbook on the toxicology of metals, vol 11. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Friedman L, Machta A, Soller (1962) Water vapour exchange between a water droplet and its environment. J Geophys Res 67:2761–2766
Gat JR (1981) Groundwater. In: Gat JR, Gonfiantini R (eds) Stable isotope hydrology. IAEA, Vienna, pp 223–240
Gat JR, Dansgaard W (1972) Stable isotope survey of the fresh water occurrences in Israel and the northern Jordan Rift Valley. J Hydrol 16:177–212
Hamza MS, Abd El-Samie SG, Ahmed MA, Hassan HB (2005) Study of the pollution impact from wastewater reuse for irrigation on the groundwater of the Quaternary aquifer, West Cairo. Arab J Nucl Sci Appl 38:133–148
Hitchon B, Perkins EH, Gunter WD (1999) SOLMINEQ.GW, introduction to ground water geochemistry. Geoscience Publishing Ltd, Alberta
IAEA (1995) Reference and inter-comparison materials for stable isotopes of light elements. Proc. of a consultants meeting held in Vienna, 1–3/10/1993, IAEA, Vienna, TECDOC-825, p 165
Kendall C, Elliott EM, Wankel SD (2007) Tracing anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen to ecosystems. In: Michener R, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Malden, pp 375–449
Kroopnick P (1974) The dissolved O2–CO2–13C system in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Deep Sea Res 21:211–227
Leontiadias IL, Payne BR, Christodoulou T (1988) Isotope hydrology of the Aghios Nikolaos area of Crete, Greece. J Hydrol 98:121–132
Menco (1990) Miser company for engineering and agricultural projects report
Merian E (1991) Metals and their compounds in the environment, occurrence, analysis and biological relevance. VCH, Weinteim
Meyer H (2000) Isotope studies of hydrogen and oxygen in ground ice—experiences with the equilibration technique. Isot Environ Health Stud 36:133–149
Ogunfowokan AO, Adenuga AA, Torto N, Okoh EK (2008) Heavy metals pollution in a sewage treatment oxidation pond and the receiving stream of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. Environ Monit Assess 143:25–41
Richard LA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Agriculture handbook 60. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
Tullborg EL, Gustafsson E (1999) 14C in bicarbonate and dissolved organics: a useful tracer? Appl Geochem 14:927–938
WHO (2006) Guidelines for drinking-water quality. V.1, recommendations. World Health Organization, Geneva
Widory D, Petelet-Giraud E, Negrel P, Ladouche B (2005) Tracking the source of nitrate in groundwater using coupled nitrogen and boron isotopes: a synthesis. Environ Sci Technol 39:539–548
Wilcox LV (1955) Classification and use of irrigation water. US Geol Dept Agric Circ 969:19
Zhu GF, Li ZZ, Su YH, Ma JZ, Zhang YY (2006) Hydrogeochemical and isotope evidence of groundwater evolution and recharge in Minqin Basin, northwest China. J Hydrol 333:239–251
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmed, M.A., Samie, S.G.A. & El-Maghrabi, H.M. Recharge and contamination sources of shallow and deep groundwater of pleistocene aquifer in El-Sadat industrial city: isotope and hydrochemical approaches. Environ Earth Sci 62, 751–768 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0563-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0563-x