Shallow groundwater environmental investigation at northeastern Cairo, Egypt: quality and photo-treatment evaluation

Abstract

Groundwater represents the primary source of freshwater for more than 35% of world people, and its contamination became a worldwide challenge. Egypt is suffering from water quantity and quality, especially in desert areas. El Obour city and environs Northeast Cairo face waterlogging owing to the elevated-shallow groundwater table. In the present research work, the water quality of the shallow groundwater aquifer was studied. The remediation efficiency of polluted water using photocatalytic treatment technique in the presence of modified nano-titania and solar radiation has also been investigated. Twenty-eight representative samples have been collected from different locations, and their microbial, physical, and chemical characteristics were determined. The average contents of Pb (214.96 µg/L), As (1517 µg/L), Cd (8.79 µg/L), total bacterial count (2.22 × 10⁵ CFU/ml), and bacterial indicators (MPN-index/100 ml): total coliform (497.4), fecal coliform (358.3), and fecal streptococci (115.9) were higher than WHO permissible limits for drinking water, possibly due to higher industrialization, agricultural, and urbanization rates. The organic pollutants reached critical concentrations (chemical oxygen demand up to 960.8 mg O₂/L). Most of the studied samples contained acceptable concentrations of the major ions, (e.g., K⁺, Mg²⁺, HCO₃^-), for drinking and irrigation purposes. The statistical analyses (e.g., principal component analysis and cluster analysis) pointed out the control of water-rock interaction and anthropogenic activities in water composition. The hydrochemical data show that most of the water samples (96.4%) are Na₂SO₄ and NaHCO₃ type, indicating its meteoric origin. The contamination with human and animal fecal substances, NO₃^¯, and NH₄⁺ was identified in all samples, which pointed out the control of anthropogenic activities in water pollution. The photocatalytic technique efficiently eliminated more than 82-95% of organic contents and microbial pollutants, respectively, but it was inefficient in reducing heavy metal levels. According to the current results, shallow groundwater injection into the deep aquifer must be constrained and reusable after treatment. Finally, more studies are imperative to disseminate the applied treatment techniques to elude bacteria and organic pollutants from water at a pilot scale.

Keywords: Egypt; Heavy metals; Pollution; Shallow groundwater; Water quality.