Evaluation of drinking groundwater for the rural areas adjacent to the nearby desert of giza governorate of greater Cairo, Egypt

The choice of the area under investigation takes into consideration several important aspects: heavily populated villages; type of drinking water as groundwater; its situation on the west side of the Nile near the intersection point between the Nile and its Delta; its neighborhood to the desert of Giza governorate; and its closeness to highly industrial and agricultural activities. The present study is an extension of an early study on drinking groundwater in the southern part of the area under investigation, namely Kafr Hakim village. The current paper covers an area from Kafr Hakim in the south to Nekla in the north, surrounded by the Moheet drain in the east and the Mansourya canal in the west. Twenty ground and surface water samples were taken from some wells of depths from 20 - 100 m and from some surface water drains in the same area. The exact positioning of each sample was precisely determined using GPS instruments. The samples were analyzed and environmentally characterized through various important cations such as Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cd, Zn, Pb, Fe and Mn, using atomic absorption technique. The anions determined using either spectrophotometric or ion-chromatographic methods; they included bicarbonate, sulphate, acetate, chlorides, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates. All above-measured parameters were presented using the newly developed geographic information systems (GIS), which facilitates the presentation of final results. This manuscript sheds light on the evaluation of these water samples as potable according to international and the Egyptian regulations. Also a trial is made to explain any unusual and abnormal data with some recommendations for remediation.