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Optimization of integrated water quality management for agricultural efficiency and environmental conservation

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Abstract

The scarcity of water resources in Egypt has necessitated the use of various types of lower quality water. Agricultural drainage water is considered a strategic reserve for meeting increasing freshwater demands. In this study, a novel model series was applied to a drainage basin in the Nile Delta to optimize integrated water quality management for agriculture and the aquatic environment. The proposed model series includes a waste load allocation model, an export coefficient model, a stream water quality model, and a genetic algorithm. This model series offers an optimized solution for determining the required removal levels of total suspended solids (TSS), the chemical oxygen demand (COD) at point and non-point pollution sources, and the source flows that require treatment to meet a given water quality target. The model series was applied during the summer and winter to the El-Qalaa basin in the western delta of the Nile River. Increased pollutant removal and treated fractions at point and non-point sources reduced violations of the TSS standards from 732.6 to 238.9 mg/L in summer and from 543.1 to 380.9 mg/L in winter. Likewise, violations of the COD standards decreased from 112.4 mg/L to 0 (no violations) in summer and from 91.7 mg/L to no violations in winter. Thus, this model is recommended as a decision support tool for determining a desirable waste load allocation solution from a trade-off curve considering costs and the degree of compliance with water quality standards.

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Acknowledgments

The first author is very grateful to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for providing financial support for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulics, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Amr Fleifle

  2. Energy Resources and Environmental Engineering Program, Egypt–Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), New Borg El Arab City, Alexandria, Egypt

    Amr Fleifle, Oliver Saavedra, Mohamed Elzeir & Ahmed Tawfik

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8552, Japan

    Oliver Saavedra & Chihiro Yoshimura

Authors
  1. Amr Fleifle
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  2. Oliver Saavedra
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  3. Chihiro Yoshimura
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  4. Mohamed Elzeir
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  5. Ahmed Tawfik
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Correspondence to Amr Fleifle.

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Responsible editor: Michael Matthies

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Fleifle, A., Saavedra, O., Yoshimura, C. et al. Optimization of integrated water quality management for agricultural efficiency and environmental conservation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 8095–8111 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2712-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2712-3

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