Evaluation of water pollution using physicochemical parameters, heavy metals concentrations, and organic pollutants: Study area El-Behaira Governorate.

The objective of this study was to examine the extent of bioaccumulation of organic contaminants and heavy metals in water within the El-Behaira Governorate region. Water is a fundamental need for life. The issue of water pollution has risen to a worldwide scale, necessitating a continuous assessment of water resource policies to combat this problem. Heavy metals are not often found in the Earth's crust; nevertheless, they are the main cause of water pollution and are found in many aspects of modern life.
Three water catchment areas (Damanhur, Kafr-El Dawar, El-Mahmoudia) in EL-Behaira Governorate, Egypt were collected to assess the types of water pollutants. The physicochemical properties of water as temperature, pH value, electric conductivity (EC), total alkalinity (CaCO₃), Turbidity (NTU), and salinity (NaCl) were appreciated. Heavy metals such as Aluminum (Al), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Nitrite (NO₂^-), and Sulphate (SO₄^-2) were determined by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Also, organic pollutants were analyzed using the gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
The obtained results showed that the mean values of temperature (24.44 - 26.12^○C), pH value was (6.76 - 8.23), electric conductivity (EC) ranged between (443.4-2001.1 mS/ cm), total alkalinity was (19.4- 137 ppm), turbidity was (6.43 - 9.17 NTU) and salinity was (0.0183- 0.0358 mg/l). The results confirmed the presence of some heavy metals such as Al (1175- 9002 mg/l), Fe (0.210- 0.724 mg/l), Pb (19.21- 20.73 mg/l), NO₂^- (0.012- 0.120 mg/l) and SO₄^-2 (114.54 - 818.5 mg/l). The obtained values were compared with allowable levels stated by WHO guidelines (2017) and Egyptian guidelines (No 92/2013) for the River Nile protection from pollution. Organic pollutants were detected in the study area and verified in the NIST 2008 (National Institute of Standard and Technology Library). This reveals a high exposure potential for human health. It is thus recommended that further research be conducted to determine the potential health risks associated with these organic pollutants among vulnerable communities, through epidemiological studies. It was recommended that surface water quality be shielded from environmental contamination.