Hydrochemical characteristics and water quality assessment of underground water in the beach zone between quseir and safaga, red sea, egypt

Water quality is the critical factor that influence on human health, it is mostly based on the hydrochemical characteristics which reveals the suitability of water for drinking and agriculture. The beach zone of Red Sea in Egypt is considered as one of the most promising areas for development in the Eastern Desert, especially for the agricultural activities. The underground water would be one of the most important resources for such development process. The underground water in the beach zone is of great importance where it is the unique source for drinking and irrigation water. The main target of this study is to evaluate the suitability of underground water for drinking, domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. Also, this study is to assist and outline how Egypt will safeguard its water resources in the future, both with respect to quantity and quality and how it will use its resources in the best way from a socio-economic and environmental point of view. To assess the water quality, underground water were collected and subjected to analysis for chemical characteristics. The analysis provides information on physico-chemical properties (pH, density, specific gravity, electrical conductivity, resistivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, alkalinity and hardness) as well as major and minor constituents were also determined for nine water wells selected between Quseir and Safaga cities. The results were compared with the standard permissible limits. In general, data analysis indicates that most of the studied shallow wells require treatment before using it as drinking water or as irrigation water. Different sources of pollution were detected as sea infiltration, decay of organic matter, industrial, agriculture and domestic wastewater.