الفهرس Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Scarcity of water resources in Egypt is becoming a problem due to increasing population and increasing the consumption of different sectors of the society. Therefore, the government is integrating activities toward optimizing benefits for the saving water resources. One of the most important efforts of the Egyptian government in this regard is the reuse of drainage water. Reusing drainage water is possible only if water quality meets the standard for land reclamation and agriculture requirements. Potential reuse requires reducing pollution of water resources. Therefore, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation started to cover the open drains which cross villages and towns. This project is considered a national project to control the pollution of these drains. Egyptian Public Authority for Drainage Projects (EP ADP) is increasing the potential for the subsequent reuse of drainage water for agriculture purposes. It must be admitted that drain covering today is a primary defense against the results of the lake of proper systems for collecting and handling domestic solid wastes and waste water.
This study deals with the environmental impact of covering the agriculture drains in Egypt. Three drains are selected to carry out this study. They are EL-Sairafi, Shobrakbit and Al-Amreya drains. They are located in the western Delta area. Water samples were collected on monthly from these drains for a period of six months. Field measurements were done to measure PH, EC and DO. Water samples were analyzed in the laboratory to measure N03, NH3, COD, TDS and P04.
The results of this study showed that covering drains are not been the best solution to solve the problem of pollution. Drainage water became more polluted after covering drains. For instance, in Al-Amreya drain, the dissolved oxygen DO decreased from 4.5 before the covering to 0.65 ppm after the covering. The other parameters such as N03, NH3 and COD, increased at the inlet of the culvert from 33.7,5.4, and 137 ppm to 54.9, 13.0, and 254 ppm at the outlet point, respectively. There are not certain criteria for design of drain covering. Ground water level close to the covering drain became higher than before applying the covering drains project. The pollution of drainage water increases after covering the drains due to the increase of drainage sewage into the covering reach itself. Emissions of CH4 and H2S, which are toxic gases, cause damage to the concrete culvert material. Recommendations for future, detailed studies should be introduce to improve the performance of covering drains.