GIS-based assessment of groundwater quality and suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes in the outlet and central parts of Wadi El-Assiuti, Assiut Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Background The limited water resources in arid environments in addition to the effect of agricultural and anthropogenic activities on groundwater quantity and quality necessitate paying more attention to the quality assessment of these resources. The present studies assess the quality of groundwater resources in Wadi El-Assiuti, south Egypt, and evaluate their suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes. To achieve this goal, 159 groundwater samples were collected from the outlet and central parts of the Wadi El-Assiuti during the autumn season (October–November) of 2019 and were analyzed for major ions, trace elements and heavy metals. Results The results indicate that the TDS values range between 1972 and 6217 ppm, while the concentration of trace elements (Fe++, Mn++ and Ni+) ranges between 0.05 and 0.46, 0.11 and 0.221 and 0.01 and 0.6 ppm, respectively. These results show that all groundwater samples are clearly unacceptable and inappropriate for human drinking due to their high content of total dissolved solids, trace elements and heavy metals, particularly in the majority of samples according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and the Egyptian standards (Eg. St. 2007) for drinking water quality. Spatial analysis of the TDS values in geographic information system environment indicates that the salinity is higher in the northeast and gradually decreases southward. Sodium adsorption ratio, US Salinity Laboratory classification (1954), residual sodium carbonate, soluble sodium percentage and permeability index show that most groundwater samples are suitable for irrigation purposes. Conclusions The integrated approach provided in this study highlights the spatially distributed suitability of groundwater resources in Wadi El-Assiuti and can be applied in similar basins worldwide.

Dam Siting: A Review

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Spatial differentiation of comprehensive suitability sustainable development for urban human settlements based on GIS：A case study of Liaoning Province, China

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“…Geospatial technologies, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), offer significant advantages over traditional methods in studying water quality and groundwater resources. GIS and RS applications in groundwater studies include mapping, suitability analysis, identify how susceptible groundwater is to contamination, and determining groundwater flow [ 8 , [10] , [11] , [12] ]. Compared to more conventional methods, geospatial technologies are accurate and cost-effective for studying water quality [ 8 ].…”