Modeling the impact of nitrate fertilizers on groundwater quality in the southern part of the Nile Delta, Egypt

Author:

Eltarabily Mohamed Galal12,Negm Abdelazim M.13,Yoshimura Chihiro2,Saavedra Oliver C.4

Affiliation:

1. Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt–Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria 21934, Egypt

2. Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan

3. Seconded from Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44159, Egypt

4. Universidad Privada Boliviana, La Paz, Pedro Domingo Murillo, Bolivia

Abstract

The use of fertilizers in agriculture in Egypt, especially nitrogen, has increased significantly in the last decade, resulting in nonpoint contamination of the groundwater resources. This study investigated the effect of using nitrogen fertilizer on groundwater contamination with nitrate in the central southern part of the Nile Delta. NO3− concentrations in shallow groundwater were assessed based on the applied urea dose (the common nitrogen fertilizer used) in year 2014. A groundwater modeling system (GMS) comprising MODFLOW and MT3D was used to simulate the three-dimensional groundwater flow and NO3− transportation processes in El-Menoufia Governorate, located in the central region of the Nile Delta aquifer. Calibration for MODFLOW was conducted to match known head configurations to minimize the water balance differences. Calibration of MT3D was accomplished by fitting the model to the measured NO3− concentrations during the year 2014. The results highlighted areas of groundwater contamination by NO3−, which occurred at shallow depths (40 m) due to the significant loads of nitrogen fertilizer application and the flood irrigation method. While the results suggested one approach was to avoid using contaminated shallow groundwater as a water source, a more sustainable approach would be to implement best management practices to reduce and control the amount of nitrate leaching into the shallow groundwater system in the future.

Publisher

IWA Publishing

Subject

Water Science and Technology

Reference33 articles.

1. Water issue in Egypt: resources, pollution and protection endeavors;Abdel-Shafy;CEJOEM,2002

2. Al-Agha D. E. Closas A. Molle F. 2015 Survey of Groundwater use in the Central Part of the Nile Delta. International Water Management Institute, IWMI, Report No. 6.

3. Bader E. 2004 Mathematical Programming Models for Optimizing Irrigation Water Management in Egypt. PhD Thesis, Agricultural and Food Sciences, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel.

4. Research on the evaluation method of groundwater quantity and pollution vulnerability;Bai;Water Science and Technology: Water Supply,2013

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3