IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i14p7485-d593642.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating and Managing the Impact of Using Untreated Wastewater for Irrigation on the Groundwater Quality in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

Author

Listed:
  • Hany F. Abd-Elhamid

    (Water and Water Structures Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt
    Center for Research and Innovation in Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Košice, 04200 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Shaimaa M. Abd-Elmoneem

    (Belbis High Institute for Engineering, Belbes, El Sharqia 44519, Egypt)

  • Gamal M. Abdelaal

    (Water and Water Structures Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt)

  • Martina Zeleňáková

    (Institute of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Košice, 04200 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Zuzana Vranayova

    (Department of Building Facilities, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Košice, 04200 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Ismail Abd-Elaty

    (Water and Water Structures Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt)

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of using untreated wastewater in irrigation. Different scenarios of management were applied by mixing it with treated wastewater or freshwater on groundwater quality. A hypothetical case study is presented. The numerical model of MODFLOW is used in the simulation by applying four stages (21 scenarios) including: different values of pumping rates, changing wastewater recharge rates, and a combination of the previous scenarios. Additionally, protection scenario for groundwater was applied by using different values of mixing of freshwater with wastewater. The simulation was carried out for the contamination of Chemical Oxygen Demand COD and the concentration reached 48.6 ppm at a depth of 25 m and 19.41 ppm at a depth of 50 m in the base case. The results showed a negative impact on groundwater quality had occurred due to increasing the pumping rates, wastewater recharge rates, and combination between two scenarios, which led to an increase of the contaminants in the aquifers. However, positive protection effects occurred due to mixing the wastewater with treated wastewater. The results of COD concentration in groundwater using treated wastewater reached 81.82, 77.88, 74.03, 70.12, and 66.15 ppm at a depth of 25 m and 53.53, 50.95, 48.43, 45.87, and 43.28 ppm at a depth of 50 m, at concentrations of 93, 88.52, 84.14, 79.7, and 75.19 ppm with constant pumping and recharge rates of 4320 m 3 /d and 547.5 mm/year, respectively. The using of treated wastewater could improve the groundwater quality to be used in the irrigation process and help to minimize groundwater contamination. Moreover, the abstraction of the groundwater should be optimized, and the qualities of wastewater should be constrained in agriculture to protect the groundwater quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Hany F. Abd-Elhamid & Shaimaa M. Abd-Elmoneem & Gamal M. Abdelaal & Martina Zeleňáková & Zuzana Vranayova & Ismail Abd-Elaty, 2021. "Investigating and Managing the Impact of Using Untreated Wastewater for Irrigation on the Groundwater Quality in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7485-:d:593642
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7485/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7485/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ismail Abd-Elaty & Lorenzo Pugliese & Martina Zelenakova & Peter Mesaros & Abdelaziz El Shinawi, 2020. "Simulation-Based Solutions Reducing Soil and Groundwater Contamination from Fertilizers in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: Case Study the Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-18, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Isamil Abd-Elaty & Shaimaa M. Abd-Elmoneem & Gamal M. Abdelaal & Jakub Vrána & Zuzana Vranayová & Hany F. Abd-Elhamid, 2022. "Groundwater Quality Modeling and Mitigation from Wastewater Used in Irrigation, a Case Study of the Nile Delta Aquifer in Egypt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Atef A. El-Saiad & Hany F. Abd-Elhamid & Zeinab I. Salama & Martina Zeleňáková & Erik Weiss & Emad H. El-Gohary, 2021. "Improving the Hydraulic Effects Resulting from the Use of a Submerged Biofiter to Enhance Water Quality in Polluted Streams," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-15, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7485-:d:593642. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.