El-Sanafawy- Hamida, M.A.; N.I. Talha, S.A. El-Saady And A.A.S. Gendy ( 2011). Quality Assessment Of Behaira Governorate Ground Water (El-Delengate District) By Chemical And Heavy Metal Analysis J., Of Soil Sciences And Agricultural Engineering. Mansoura Univ. Vol. 2 (1): 59-70.
Abstract: The scarcity of water makes it difficult and expensive to expand the cultivated land, or even protect soil with natural cover. In Egypt, there is a growing concern that the very limited water resources are becoming increasingly polluted because of the misuse and improper management of resources, which jeopardizes any attempt for sustainable agriculture development. The overall objective of this research was to assess the ground water resources quality for an agroecological system in Behaira governorate. To achieve this objective, water samples of 59 well at depth’s 15 to 40 m were taken and chemical as well as heavy metal analyses revealed that:
• pH values varied from slightly alkaline to alkaline.
• Sodium cation was the dominant followed by magnesium and calcium. On the other hand, chloride and sulphate were the dominant anions.
• Adj. SAR of ground water samples studied showed that 30 samples suitable for irrigation purposes, whereas 10 samples may cause permeability problem of soil, and 19 samples were unsuitable for irrigation purposes.
• According to USDA diagram, the majority of the studied water samples were in class C3S1 (slightly dangerous for irrigation purposes. The rest of ground water samples were in class C4S3 and C3S2 (highly and medium sodium content and very high saline with high sodium content), so such water are not suitable for irrigation for soils under ordinary condition.
• Heavy metal content in the studied ground water samples can be arranged according to their contents in the order: Cu>Pb>Fe>Mn>Cd>Ni. Also, the concentration of Fe, Mn, Pb were lower than the permissible limits for irrigation water according to FAO, 1985. Ni and Cu concentration generally were within the permissible limits FAO, 1985. But Cd concentration was much higher than the permissible limits of FAO, 1985.
Keywords: (Water resources, quality assessment water salinity, heavy metals)
