Assessment and Data Assimilation of AgriulturalDrainage Water for Reuse in Irrigation Purposes Walaa Assar Environmental Engineering Department.Egypt-Japan University of Science andTechnology.New Borg Al-Arab City, Alexandria, [email protected] Ayman Allam Civil Engineering Department, Faculty ofEngineering.

Kafr Elsheikh University, Egypt. Aymanallam82@eng.kfs.edu.egAhmed TawfikEnvironmental Engineering Department.

Egypt-Japan University of Science andTechnology.New Borg Al-Arab City, Alexandria, Egypt. [email protected]   Abstract— Agriculturaldrainage water (ADW) represented an excellent source for irrigation purposeswhere the water quality in terms of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), Turbidity, totaldissolved solids (TDS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate (NO3-N),ammonia (NH4-N), total suspended solids (TSS), volatile suspendedsolids (VSS), total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon (IC) and totalcarbon (TC) along El-Salam canal were assessed. The results revealed that allparameters were in accordance for reuse in agricultural purposes exceptdissolved oxygen. This was mainly due to dumping of pollutants into the canal.

TheCOD was varied from 4.66 to 32.6 mg/l.

This is mainly due to discharge ofdomestic wastewater which cause a serious depletion of dissolved oxygen(DO=3.98 mg/l). The NO3 was quite low and variedfrom 0.

49 to 1.89 mg/l while the ammonia concentration along the canal waslargely varied from 1.43 to 6.33 mg/l. This indicates that the nitrification–denitrification could be occurred along the canal resulting a deterioration ofwater quality along the canal.

However, the ammonia and nitrate are representeda good soil conditioner and minimizing the usage of chemical fertilizers. Relative (10 % and 40%) and constantstandard deviations (0.10 and 4) for the discharge were applied in the MIKE 11 data assimilation for pumpstations no. 1 and 2 which was not significant at T-test value (p>0.05).Keywords— Data assimilation; Drainage water; El-salam canal; MIKE11; Reuse; Water quality.

                                                                                                                                                     I.      IntroductionEgypt produces approximately 17 BCM/yearagricultural drainage water (ADW) which mainly discharge into Mediterranean Sea.However, the ADW represents an excellent source for irrigation in Egypt.Therefore, the Egyptian government proposed El-Salam Canal to irrigate 620,000feddans to increase the economy of the country and minimize the depletion ofthe water in the sea. So far, water scarcity is a serious problem in variouscountries including Egypt 1. The ADW is suffered from different sources ofpollution i.e. domestic and industrial wastewater 2.

The pollutants couldaffect negatively on the water quality. Therefore, a mixing of Nile river andADW with a proper ratio is existing. However, the huge amounts of pollutantsdeteriorate the water quality of the canal.Agricultural drainage water (ADW) is analternative option for reuse creating an economic value for the country wherethe nutrients are presented 3,4. Egypt established El-Salam Canal for reusewith a capacity of 2.

11 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM)/year of the Nile water and 1.905BCM/year of water from Bahr hadous drain and 0.435 BCM/year of El-serw drain5. The canal water is mainly used  forreclamation of 251,000 hectare of the desert located along the Mediterranean seaof Egypt (90,000 hectare of which extend west of Suez Canal and about 161,000hectares east of Suez Canal) 6.

Unfortunately, El-salam Canal receives alarge amount of pollutants which cause a severe problems for the beneficiariesand stalk holders. Some of treated wastewater is discharged and others without treatmentand drained into water bodies 7. Additionally, the water of El-salam Canal istemporally facing a great challenge due to the shortage of water irrigationfrom the Nile. Therefore, an assessment for the water quality along El-salamcanal for direct reuse in irrigation is urgently needed.MIKE 11 is the most widely hydrodynamicsimulation software providing features of computational stability, highaccuracy and reliability. The model can be easily used for the detailed design,management and operation of both simple and complex channel systems 8.Furthermore, MIKE 11 data assimilation module in this study was applied toidentify the contributions of uncertainties associated with the water dischargesof the boundary source.                                                                                                                                      II.

    Materialand MethodsA.    StudyareaThe El-Salam canal is the main water irrigationsource to Sinai Peninsula. The water is used to cultivate approximately 620,000feddans.

The canal is located in the Eastern North region of the Nile Delta,with a total length of 88 km (Fig.1). The canal receives Nile fresh water from theDamietta tributary of which situated at upstream of Fraskour Dam. The majorportion of agricultural drainage water (ADW) arereceived from Fraskour, El-serw and Bahr hadous drains. The ratio of Nile waterand ADW was 1:1.

This ratio provided total dissolved solids (TDS) of the mixedwater to be less than 1200 mg/l for irrigation according to Egyptian standardsfor reuse 9, 10,and 11. TheADW supply sites for El-salam canal are from Fraskour drain at (1.80 km),El-Serw drain at the (17.85 km) and Bahr Hadous drain at the (54.0 km) 12, Fig. 2. Fig.

1.   El-Salamcanal map Fig. 2. Schematic diagram ofEl-Salam canal.B.    Samplingsites and measurementsWater samples were collected from the intake ofthe canal (0.00 km) and at eastward sites up to 88 km at Suez Canal, (Fig. 2).

Thewater were sampled from Damietta branch at 0.00 km (location 1), before andafter mixing with Faraskor drain (1.76 km -location 2)  (1.92 km -location 3), at 14.40 km (location4), before mixing with El-serw drain at 18.00 (location 5), after mixing withEl-serw drain at 18.

44 km (location 6), at 48.00 km (location 7), before mixingwith Bahr hadous drain at 53.90 km (location 8), and  after mixing with Bahr hadous drain at 54.

55km (location 9), at 68.75 km (location 10) and up to Suez Canal at 88.00 km(location 11). Eleven representative water samples were monthly collectedduring the spring season (from March to July 2017). Water samples were preservedfor physio-chemical analysis using 2 ml H2SO4 13.C.    AnalysisThe measured parametersin situ were temperature of surface water and air, pH, turbidity, dissolvedoxygen (DO) and TDS. The measurements were by HQ30D portable multi meter.

A portion of samples weretransferred to the environmental laboratory of Egypt-Japan University forScience and Technology (E-JUST) for analysis. The chemical oxygen demand (COD),nitrate (NO3), ammonia (NH4-N), total suspended solids(TSS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), total organic carbon (TOC), inorganiccarbon (IC), and total carbon (TC) was measured according to APHA (2005).                                                                                                                                                  III.   MIKE 11modelTheMIKE 11 model was appliedto simulate the hydrodynamic and data assimilation of El-salam canal for water reuse.It was initially developed by Danish Hydraulic Institute, for simulating flows,water quality and sediment transport in rivers, estuaries and irrigationsystems 14. The MIKE 11 hydrodynamic (HD) is a one-dimensional, unsteady,non-uniform flow simulation model describing the water motion by Saint-Venantequations. The implicit finite difference six-point Abbott-Ionescu scheme isadopted in pursuit of a solution 15The data assimilation is a powerful tool for assessmentof the effect of uncertainties on the boundary conditions of the canal 2. The analysis was applied based onMIKE 11 data assimilation (DA).

Monte Carlo simulation was implemented to diffuse uncertainties from theboundary conditions to the model outputs 16.Statistical performance analysis was selected for theassessment of the selected standard deviations (T-Test) for the comparison.                                                                                                                                     IV.   resultsand DiscussionA.    WaterQuality AssessementFig. 3 shows the waterquality parameters (pH, DO, Turbidity, TDS, COD, NO3-N, NH4-N,TSS, VSS, TOC, IC and TC) along El-Salam canal.

The COD values were highlyfluctuated along the canal (Fig. 3). The COD was varied from 4.66 to 32.6 mg/l.This is mainly due to discharge of domestic wastewater which cause a seriousdepletion of dissolved oxygen (DO=3.98 mg/l). However, the COD values arecomplying for reuse in limited irrigation purposes based Egyptian standards ofthe drainage water in agricultural purposes 9 10and Table 1.

Likely, TOC values were ranged from 1.96 to 8.97 mg/l, these results are comparableto those obtained by Hafez 17.

The pHvalues ranged from 7.29 to 7.98 which is acceptable for reuse. An alkaline pHvalue give undoubtedly indication on the algal growth.  Moreover, the pH value could be increased dueto the release of carbon dioxide where the nitrifiers use it for ammonia oxidation.The DO values ranged from 3.98 to 8.

33 mg/l, which violated the allowable limit(> 5mg/l). This could be attributed to the negative impact of the pollution ofEl-Serw and Bahr Hadous drains which receives a significant amount of domestic wastewater18. The most of oxygen is mainly consumed due tothe degradation of organic matter.

The TDS values were highly fluctuated from 288.5to 1094.5 mg/l resulting an average value of 528 mg/l, which complied for reuse(<1200mg/l). The high values of TDS was mainly due to the seepage of salty water fromEl-Manzala Lake which increased the salinity of the canal. The NO3 was quite low and variedfrom 0.49 to 1.89 mg/l while the ammonia concentration along the canal waslargely varied from 1.43 to 6.

33 mg/l. This indicates that the nitrification–denitrification could be occurred along the canal resulting a deterioration ofwater quality along the canal. However, the ammonia and nitrate are representeda good soil conditioner and minimizing the usage of chemical fertilizers.

  The water of the canal was mainly turbid (3.7-32.41NTU) due to the presence of suspended solids which affect negatively on thequality where TSS values ranged from 11.15 to 42.85 mg/l. the TSS values arecomplying for reuse however, the precipitation of coarse suspended would beaccumulated in the canal causing serious problems such as anaerobic conditionin the bottom.

Moreover, a high turbidity would reduce the penetration ofoxygen from the air to the water resulting a low dissolved oxygen. Based on theseresults, the water quality of El-salam canal is reasonable for direct reuse forirrigation according to the Egyptian standards.TABLE I.             the measured water quality parameters alongEl-salam canal and the Egyptian standards for reuse of ADW in irrigation.

parameters range average Law 48/1982 Standards Water temp. (°C) 22.40 – 25.60 23.

30 5 above prevailing T pH value 7.29 – 7.98 7.68 6.5 – 8.5 DO (mg/l) 3.

98 – 8.33 5.80 > 5 Turbidity (NTU) 3.70 – 32.

41 15.04 NA TDS (mg/l) 288.50 – 1094.50 528.00 < 1200 COD (mg/l) 4.66 – 32.59 16.59 < 50 NO3 (mg/l) 0.

49 – 1.89 1.04 0 – 10 NH4-N (mg/l) 1.43 – 6.33 3.

15 0 – 5 TSS (mg/l) 11.15 – 42.85 23.25 < 50 VSS (mg/l) 4.

00 – 15.50 9.67 NA TOC (mg/l) 1.96 – 8.97 5.52 < 0.1 IC (mg/l) 17.24 – 50.

78 22.50 NA TC (mg/l) 22.62 – 58.34 28.02 NA *NA, not available.  Fig. 3.

Water quality parameters distributionalong El-Salam canal.B.    MIKE 11modelThe HD model calibration and validation were performedfor two years’ data (2012-2014) previously described by Assar 19. The model successfullyproved its reliability to simulate the water quantity along the canal. The discharge inflow for the intakeboundary of El-salam canal was assumed to be inaccurate using DA module. Differentvalues of relative (10 % & 40%) and constant (0.10 & 4.0) standarddeviations for the discharge were applied to estimate the uncertainty of model predictionoutputs.

Two locations namely pump stations no. 1 and 2 at 22.0 and 53.0 kmwere selected for analysis their results in terms of the relative and constantstandard deviations.The comparison between the observation andthe predicted discharges data at pump station no.1 for the relative standarddeviations of 10 and 40 % were not significant at T- values of 0.

06 (p>0.05) and 0.07 (p>0.05), respectively.

Furthermore,at pump station no.2 the comparison between the observation and the predicteddischarges for the relative standard deviations of 10 and 40 % were notsignificant where T-test values were 0.66 (p>0.05) and 0.38 (p>0.05),respectively. Moreover, the T- value for the prediction of SD of 10 and 40 %was not significant at pump station No.

1 and 2, where T-test values were 0.01(p>0.05) and 0.00 (p>0.05) respectively, Figs.

4 & 5.Fig. 6 shows there no significant resultsfor pump station 1 and 2 for the constant standard deviations of 0.10. TheT-test values were 0.08 (p>0.05) for pump station 1 and 0.

68 (p>0.05) forpump station 2. Fig. 7 displayed the results for pump station 1 and for theconstant standard deviation of 4.0 was not significant at T-test values of 0.07(p>0.

05) for pump station 1 and 0.68 (p>0.05) for pump station 2.

TheT-values the prediction of SD of 0.1and 4.0 was not significant at pump stationNo.1 and 2, where T-test values were 0.

01 (p>0.05) and 0.00 (p>0.05)respectively.           Fig. 4.

The observed and predicteddischarge data for SD 10% at pump station no. 1 (a) and 2 (b) of El-salam canalfor the period (October 2013 – July 2014).         Fig.

5. The observed and predicteddischarge data for SD 40% at pump station no. 1 (a) and 2 (b) of El-salam canalfor the period (October 2013 – July 2014).     Fig. 6. The observed and predicteddischarge data for SD 0.

10 at pump station no. 1 (a) and 2 (b) of El-salamcanal for the period (October 2013 – July 2014). Fig. 7. The observed and predicteddischarge data for SD 4.

0 at pump station no. 1 (a) and 2 (b) of El-salam canalfor the period (October 2013 – July 2014).                                                                                                                                                       V.    conclusionsThe waterquality parameters of El-Salam canal in terms of organics and nitrogencompounds is reasonable for direct reuse in irrigation purposes in the areassuffering from lack of water resources. Moreover, the current mixing ratiobetween the ADW and the Nile fresh water (1:1) is quite sufficient to producean acceptable water quality. A shortage of the Nile water supply to El-Salamcanal would seriously effect on the quality and accordingly needs a propertreatment process. Relative (10% and 40%) and constant standard deviations (0.

10 and 4.0) forthe discharge were applied for pump stations no. 1 and 2 which was notsignificant p>0.05.Acknowledgment The first author would like to thank theEgyptian Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) for providing her the financialsupport (Ph.D. Scholarship) for this research as well as the Egypt–JapanUniversity of Science and Technology (E-JUST) for offering the facility and thetools needed to conduct this work.

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