International Journal of Environment and Sustainability
ISSN 1927-9566 | Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 1-10 (2013)
www.sciencetarget.com
Microbiological and Physicochemical Evaluation of
Groundwater in Egypt
Amr H. Mostafa1, Raed S. Al-Wasify2*, Amr M. Sayed1 and Bakry M.
Haroun3
1
Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Institution, Housing and Building National Research
Centre, Cairo, Egypt
2
3
Water Pollution Research Dept., National Research Centre, Dokki, Egypt
Botany&Microbiology Dept., Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Groundwater represents significant source of fresh water for irrigation and drinking purposes and
therefore preserving the availability and quality of this resource is extremely important. Groundwater
could be chemically, physically, or microbiologically contaminated. Each of which is linked to various
sources and health related problems and consequences. This study was performed to evaluate some
private groundwater wells in El-Rhawy (10 wells) and Manshiat Radwan (7 wells) regions, Giza
governorate, Egypt. Total viable bacterial counts, total coliforms (TC), fecal coliforms (FC) and fecal
streptococci (FS), as bacterial indicators, were examined. Ammonia, nitrates, sulphate, iron, total
dissolved solids (TDS), chlorides, total hardness (CaCO3), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical
oxygen demand (COD), pH, temperature, electric conductivity (EC) and turbidity were measured as
physicochemical parameters of these wells. Results of the present study showed that 11 wells were not
suitable for drinking since they showed high total viable bacterial counts (>50 CFU mL-1) and the
presence of TC, FC and FS, and some wells showed high concentrations of ammonia (n=16), iron (n=15),
turbidity (n=11) that exceeds the permissible limits of the Egyptian standards for drinking water, 2007.
Thus, the contaminated groundwater wells must be treated and disinfected before usage for drinking or
human consumptions.
Key words: Groundwater, bacterial indicators, physicochemical parameters.
1. Introduction
In Egypt, the ground water is considered the third
water source for irrigation and other human uses
after the river Nile, and irrigation canals and
drains. Thus, the ground water is considered as a
secondary source to irrigate some agricultural areas
in the Delta region, and as an essential source for
some cultivated lands to which the Nile water is
not reachable. In many parts of Egypt, the ground
water is widely used for drinking and other domes-
tic purposes (Fahim et al., 1995; Soltan, 1998;
Mamdouh et al., 2003).
Groundwater represents an important source of
drinking water and its quality is currently threatened by a combination of microbiological and
physicochemical contamination (Pedley and
Howard, 1997; Reid et al., 2003).
* Corresponding author: [email protected]
2
© Mostafa, Al-Wasify, Sayed and Haroun 2013 | Microbiological and Physicochemical
However, groundwater could be chemically,
physically, or microbiologically contaminated.
Each of which is linked to various sources and
health related problems and consequences. Two
main factors determine the chemical and microbiological composition of water quality: artificial
and natural contamination. Any microbiological or
chemical analysis of water reveals the combined
effects of both sources of contamination, and it is
usually impossible to fully identify and separate
these sources (Al-Khatib et al., 2003).
The main source of microbiological contamination
are microorganisms from human or animal excreta,
which reaches humans through contaminated
groundwater from wastewater, landfills, or wastewater treatment stations, causing serious health
problems. For example, according to the UN,
diarrhea accounts for 80% of all diseases and over
one third of deaths in developing countries, which
are caused by the patients' consumption of
contaminated water (Gasana et al., 2002; AlKhatib et al., 2003). Most of the gastrointestinal
infections that may be transmitted through drinking
water are transmitted via fecal–oral pathway
(WHO, 1984). Hence, the effects of improvements
in the quality of groundwater were felt on the
combat against endemic diseases such as typhoid
and cholera in adults, and diarrhea in children (AlKhatib and Orabi, 2004). The most commonly
used indicators for bacteriological contamination
are the coliforms: total and fecal coliforms and
fecal streptococci. E. coli is a subgroup of fecal
coliform group, and its presence indicates the fecal
pollution of groundwater (Viessman and Hammer,
2005). Detection of bacterial indicators in drinking
water signifies the presence of pathogenic
organisms that are the source of water-borne
diseases (Al-Khatib and Hassan, 2009).
An appropriate assessment of the suitability of
groundwater requires the concentrations of some
important parameters like pH, electrical
conductivity (EC), TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, Cl−,
HCO3-, SO42-, F−, NO3-, PO43-, and comparing with
the guideline values set for potable water (WHO,
1996; Ali et al., 2010).
The present study was therefore; to investigate the
bacteriological and physicochemical qualities of
groundwater from some wells at El-Rhawy and
Manshiat Radwan villages, Giza governorate,
Egypt, and to determine its suitability for drinking
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according to the Egyptian standard methods for
drinking water (2007).
2. Materials and Methods
Samples and Sampling
Seventeen well water samples were collected
(Table 1) in clean and sterile polypropylene plastic
bottles, which were previously soaked in 10%
nitric acid solution and thoroughly rinsed several
times with distilled water and finally with a portion
of the water sample. These bottles were covered by
aluminum foil, and sterilized in autoclave at 121ºC
for 20 minutes. In all cases, well water pumps were
opened for some little time before taking the
samples. All samples were tightly sealed and
immediately taken to the laboratory for analysis.
The time between sampling and analysis was not
more than 6 hours (APHA, 2005). The samples
were collected for five runs (n=85).
Table 1
Location of sampling groundwater wells at ElRhawy and Manshiat Radwan regions
Region
Code
Well name
El-Rhawy
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Manshiat Radwan
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
El-Rhawy water well plant
Al-Mansoria water well plant
Nekla water well plant
Al-Galtma water well plant
Mohmed sayed
Samy Kamel
Wagih Ahmed
Saber Hussien
Ahmed Khalifa
Kamal Ali
Manshiat Radwan water well plant
Ahmed Al-Bitar
Al-Shrbeney
Basm Kamel
Darwish
Mansor Hefny
Hashem
Bacteriological Examinations
Total Viable Bacterial Count (APHA, 2005)
International Journal of Environment and Sustainability | Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 1-10
Poured Plate method was used for enumeration of
total bacterial counts using Plate count agar (PCA)
medium which consists of the followings (gL-1):
Pancreatic Digest of Casein, 5; Yeast Extract, 2.5;
Dextrose, 1; Agar, 15. Readymade PCA medium
(Difco, USA) was prepared by adding 23.5g to 1L
distilled water and bout 10 ml of TTC (2,3,5Triphenyl Tetrazolium Chloride) solution was
added to medium after sterilization for the purpose
of pigmentation of bacterial colonies with red
color. The medium was heated to boiling with
agitation and pH was adjusted at 7.2 before
autoclaving for 15 min at 121°C, cooled to 45°C
and poured into sterile Petri-plates. The well water
samples were shacked well with the stopper on,
PCA (plate count agar) plates were inoculated with
1.0 ml from the water sample. Plates were counted
after incubation for 24 and 48 hours at 37 ºC and at
22 ºC, respectively. The numbers of organisms
developed into colonies under these conditions
were recorded as colony forming unit (CFU) per
mL.
Bacterial Indicators (APHA, 2005)
Total coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci were determined (APHA, 2005). The
membrane filter (MF) technique was used to
determine bacterial indicators in 100 ml sample. In
this technique, a measured amount of water
(usually 100 ml for drinking water) is passed
through a membrane filter (pore size 0.45 µm) that
traps bacteria on its surface. This membrane is then
placed on a thin absorbent pad that has been
saturated with a specific medium designed to
permit growth and differentiation of the organisms
being sought. On the other hand total bacterial
counts were counted by using pour plate method as
colony forming unit (CFU) per 100 ml.
Total coliforms
m-Endo agar (Difco, USA) was used for
enumeration of total coliform in water by using of
membrane filter (MF) technique and the medium
contained the followings (gL-1): Tryptose or
polypeptone 10; Thiopeptone or thiotone 5;
Casitone or trypticase 5; Yeast extract 1.5; Lactose
12.5; Sodium chloride 5; Dipotassium hydrogen
phosphate 4.375; Potassium dihydrogen phosphate,
1.375; Sodium lauryl sulfate 0.05; Sodium
desoxycholate 0.10; Sodium sulfite 2.10; Basic
fuchsin 1.05; Agar 15. Readymade m-Endo agar
medium was prepared by adding 35 g to 1L
3
distilled water. The medium was heated to boiling
with agitation and pH was adjusted at 7.2, cooled
to 45°C and poured into sterile Petri-plates, then
filtrate 100 ml of water sample, the filter is placed
on the surface of the media and incubated at 35ºC
for 24 hours. Colonies having a red color with
green metallic sheen were enumerated as total
coliforms (CFU100 mL-1).
Table 2
Physicochemical groundwater quality parameters
and analytical methods used in analysis of groundwater
Parameter
Measurement Method
Electric
conductivity EC.
Conductivity method (electrical
conductivity meter, jenewy, model 470;
APHA, 2005)
pH meter WTW, Model pH (315i).
Mercury thermometer.
Turbidimeter [10b]
The phenanthroline method (APHA,
2005)
The persulfate method (APHA, 2005)
Technicon Auto Analyzer.
Silver nitrate titrimetric method (Vogel,
1978)
Turbidimetric method (UV/Visible
spectrophotometer, Unicam model
UV4-200 (UK): at wave length 420 nm;
APHA, 2005)
EDTA Titrimetric Method (APHA, 2005)
pH.
Temperature.
Turbidity.
Iron
Manganese
Ammonia & Nitrate.
Chlorides.
Sulphate.
Total hardness
(CaCo3).
TDS
COD.
BOD.
APHA, 2005.
Titrimetric method (Spectrophotometer
(Dr /20000) for use at 600 nm; APHA,
2005).
Winklers iodometric method (APHA,
2005)
Fecal coliforms
m-FC agar (Difco, USA) was used to enumerate
fecal coliforms by using the membrane filter (MF)
technique without prior enrichment and the
medium contained the followings (gL-1): Tryptose
10; Proteose peptone No. 3 or polypeptone 5;
Yeast extract 3; Sodium chloride 5; Lactose 12.5;
Bile salts No. 3 or bile salts mixture 1.5; Aniline
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© Mostafa, Al-Wasify, Sayed and Haroun 2013 | Microbiological and Physicochemical
blue 0.1; Agar 15. Ready made m–FC agar
medium was prepared by adding 52 g to 1L
distilled water containing 10 ml 1% rosolic acid in
0.2N NaOH. The medium was heated to boiling
with agitation and pH was adjusted at 7.2, cooled
to 45°C and poured into sterile Petri-plates and
then heat to near boiling, then filtrate 100 ml of
water sample, the filter is placed on the surface of
the media and placed in a good tight closed plastic
bags and then incubated at 44.5ºC for 24 hours in
water bath. Colonies having a blue color were
enumerated as fecal coliforms (CFU100 mL-1).
4; Sodium azide 0.4; 2,3,5-Triphenyl tetrazolium
chloride 0.1; Agar 15. Ready made m-Enterococcus agar medium was prepared by adding 48 g
to 1L distilled water. The medium was heated to
boiling with agitation and pH was adjusted at 7.2
before autoclaving at 121°C for 15 hours, cooled to
45°C and poured into sterile Petri-plates, then
filtrate100 ml of water sample, the filter is placed
on the surface of the media and then incubated at
35°C for 48 hours. Colonies having from dark red
to brown color were enumerated as fecal
streptococci (CFU100 mL-1).
Fecal streptococci
Physicochemical Analysis
m- Enterococcus agar (Difco, USA) was used to
enumerate fecal streptococci by using the
membrane filter (MF) technique and the medium
contained the followings (gL-1): Tryptose 20;
Glucose 2; Yeast extract 5; Dipotassium phosphate
Table (2) showed the measured physicochemical
parameters during the study. All chemicals used in
the present study were purchased from BDH,
Sigma, Aldrich, and Merck.
Table 3
Average of total viable bacterial counts and bacterial indicators in groundwater wells
Bacterial
Parameters:
Well No.
Total viable bacterial
count/ml
At 37°C
At 22°C
Bacterial Indicators (cfu/100 ml)
Total coliforms
Fecal coliforms
Fecal streptococci
174
5
80
17
12
57
66
75
19
98
200
4
69
15
9
53
59
71
15
86
30
ND
4
ND
ND
3
5
11
ND
7
13
ND
2
ND
ND
ND
3
5
ND
5
18
ND
4
ND
ND
1
7
6
ND
5
5
15
73
60
35
71
81
4
18
55
51
28
95
69
ND
ND
4
7
ND
13
5
ND
ND
ND
4
ND
7
4
ND
ND
2
3
ND
9
5
<50
<50
ND
ND
ND
El-Rhawy
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Manshiat Radwan
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Egyptian standards
ND: Not Detected.
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International Journal of Environment and Sustainability | Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 1-10
5
3. Results
Sulphate
Total Viable Bacterial Count and Bacterial
Indicators
The sulphate values were found to be less in all
groundwater samples. The minimum value 25.7
mgL-1 was observed at well no. 12, whereas the
maximum value 38.6 mgL-1 was observed at well
no. 8. All sulphate concentrations in the groundwater samples were within the permissible limits
(< 250 mgL-1).
Results in Table (3) showed the average counts of
total viable counts at 37°C and 22°C, and the
average counts of bacterial indicators (total
coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci)
in groundwater samples collected from El-Rhawy
and Manshiat Radwan regions at Giza governorate.
The results showed that wells no. 1,3,6,7,8 and 10
at El-Rhawy region and wells no. 13,14,16 and 17
at Manshiat Radwan were not suitable for drinking
according to the Egyptian standards for drinking
water (2007) from the bacteriological view, since
these wells showed higher counts of total viable
bacterial counts and also showed the presence of
bacterial indicators of pollution (total coliforms,
fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci), which
means the presence of fecal pollution source
around these wells. In addition to that, results in
Table 3 showed the presence of fecal streptococci
at wells no. 6 and 13 while fecal coliforms were
absent in these two wells.
Physicochemical Analysis
For the present study, the groundwater samples
were collected from seventeen wells (n=85) at ElRhawy and Manshiat Radwan regions were
analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics.
The physicochemical parameters were given in
Table (4).
Ammonia
The ammonia content of samples ranged from 0.3
to 1.86 mgL-1. The minimum value was found to
be 0.3 mgL-1 at well no. 15, whereas the maximum
value 1.86 mgL-1 was observed at well no. 3.
Results of ammonia in the examined groundwater
samples were higher than the permissible limits,
except well no. 15 (> 0.5 mgL-1).
Nitrate
The maximum value of nitrate at 9.82 mgL-1 of
nitrate was recorded at well no.7, whereas the
minimum 0.17 mgL-1 was noted at well no.15. The
nitrate contents of the samples were within the
permissible limits (< 45 mgL-1).
Iron
The maximum value 1.02 mgL-1 of iron was
recorded at well no.12, whereas the minimum 0.21
mgL-1 was noted at well no.17. Iron concentrations
were higher than the permissible limits (> 0.3 mgL1
) except wells no. 13 and 17.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
The TDS levels ranged from 341.88 to 556 mgL-1.
The minimum level was observed at well no. 9,
while the maximum level was observed at well no.
14. All TDS results were within the permissible
limits (< 1000 mgL-1).
Chlorides
The minimum value 56.0 mgL-1 of chloride was
observed at wells no. 9 and 10, whereas the
maximum value 138.0 mgL-1 was noted at well
no.17. The values were found to be higher in
Manshiat Radwan region than El-Rhawy region,
but still within the permissible limits at both
regions (< 250 mgL-1).
Total Hardness (CaCO3)
Total hardness values ranged from 84 to 482mgL-1.
The maximum value was observed at well no. 16,
while the minimum value was observed at well no.
15. Total hardness concentrations in all groundwater samples were within the permissible limits
(< 500 mgL-1).
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
BOD values at all groundwater samples ranged
from 0.0 to 1.0 at El-Rhawy region, whereas BOD
values were 0.0 at all seven wells of Manshiat
Radwan during the study period.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
At El-Rhawy region, COD values ranged from 6.7
to 21.4, while at Manshiat Radwan region, COD
was ranged from 16.3 to 22.0 except wells no. 15,
16 and 17; COD was 0.0.
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© Mostafa, Al-Wasify, Sayed and Haroun 2013 | Microbiological and Physicochemical
Table 4
Physicochemical parameters of groundwater samples at El-Rhawy and Manshiat Radwan regions
Nitrate (mgL-1)
Sulphate (mgL-1)
Iron (mgL-1)
TDS (mgL-1)
Chlorides (mgL-1)
T. hardness (mgL-1)
BOD
COD
pH
Temp. (°C)
EC (µs/cm)
Turbidity (NTU)
Wells
Ammonia (mgL-1)
Parameters:
3.34
3.42
8.27
5.75
9.77
7.51
9.82
1.59
3.32
2.47
36.45
31.1
35.6
30.5
30.06
34.17
26.1
38.6
34.33
32.9
0.98
0.67
0.669
0.554
0.569
0.670
0.556
0.904
0.713
0.566
414.48
355.74
374.48
435.6
369.6
431.64
448.8
413.82
341.88
413.82
84
76
84
108
80
92
92
84
56
56
300
250
280
300
240
310
314
272
204
292
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
1
21.4
12
12
6.7
12.4
13
16.3
19.8
14.9
19.3
7.78
7.25
7.30
7.36
7.36
7.36
7.76
7.79
7.79
7.73
25
27
22
28
23
28
28
28
22
29
628
539
567
660
560
654
680
627
518
627
7.76
2
4.64
0.0
0.0
4
4.55
8.81
8
8.10
3.45
3.54
3.45
0.97
0.17
2.84
1.07
35.44
25.7
35.12
27.8
31.6
34.86
33.14
0.956
1.02
0.254
0.451
0.847
0.658
0.21
353.1
352.44
534
556
425
449
505
64
64
121.7
121.7
100
125
138
230
230
321
347.2
84
482
105
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
16.4
17.3
22
16.3
0
0
0
7.68
7.70
7.70
7.43
7.73
7.62
7.26
27
28
28
32
30
32
34
535
534
516
1027
1022
628
449
0.84
1
19.9
0.25
0.0
5.9
6.2
45
250
0.3
1000
250
500
-
-
6.5-8.5 -
-
0-1
El-Rhawy
1 1.49
2 1.42
3 1.86
4 1.4
5 1.5
6 1.4
7 0.69
8 1.74
9 1.35
10 0.89
Manshiat Radwan
11 1.0
12 1.5
13 1.36
14 1.0
15 0.3
16 0.8
17 1.0
Egyptian standards
-- 0.5
Hydrogen Ion Concentration (pH)
Turbidity
pH values in the present study showed neutrality
(around 7.0) in all groundwater samples at both ElRhawy and Manshiat Radwan regions, which
complies with the permissible limits (6.5-8.5).
The turbidity values were ranged from 0.84 to 8.81
Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) at all
groundwater samples except wells no. 4, 5 and 15,
turbidity values were 0.0 NTU. All groundwater
samples showed higher turbidity values more than
the permissible limits (>1 NTU), except wells no.
4, 5, 11, 12, 14 and 15 were within the permissible
limits (<1 NTU)
Temperature
In the present study, temperature varied from 22 to
34 °C. The variation in the groundwater temperature may be due to different timing of collection
and influence of seasons.
Electric Conductivity (EC)
4. Discussion
The conductivity of all groundwater samples in the
present study, ranged between 449 and 1027
µs/cm. The minimum value was observed at well
no. 17, while the maximum value was observed at
well no. 14.
In rural areas, drinking water generally supplied
groundwater through individual or community
wells (Bigr et al., 2004). The total viable bacterial
count is used to estimate the total amount of
bacteria in water and indicates the overall
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International Journal of Environment and Sustainability | Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 1-10
microbial status of the water (Aksu and Vural,
2004).
Total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli
and Enterococcus spp. are bacteria whose presence
indicates that the water may be contaminated by
human or animal wastes (ICMSF, 1998). Fresh
human and animal faeces contain between 102 and
104 fold more thermotolerant coliforms per gram
than Enterococcus spp. (Gleeso and Gray, 1997).
Disease-causing microbes (pathogens) in these
wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea,
headaches, or other symptoms. These pathogens
may pose a special health risk for infants, young
children, and people with severely compromised
immune systems (USEPA, 2004).
Fecal streptococci were detected more often than
either thermotolerant coliforms or E. coli (Krapac
et al., 2002). Geldreich (1996) suggested that fecal
streptococci bacteria are more numerous in faecal
material than the other bacteria and more resilient
in non-enteric environments, which may have
accounted for these bacteria being more often
detected and at a larger concentration in groundwater samples than thermo-tolerant coliforms. In a
previous study, Demir et al. (2003) found that
36.2% of samples contained E. coli and 42.5% of
them contained fecal streptococci.
The ammonia range was considered to be in high
concentration due to the anaerobic conditions that
prevailed in the landfill which in return contributed
to nitrate reduction towards ammonia gas phase
(Fatta et al., 1998).
Prasad and Ramesh (1997) explained that the high
nitrates were the indicative of high pollution load.
Mason (1991) observed the increased levels of
nitrates by intrusion of sewage and industrial
effluents into the natural water.
Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water may
cause serious illness and sometimes death. Nitrates
have the potential to cause shortness of breath,
“blue babies” syndrome in infant diuresis, an
increase in starchy deposits and haemorrhaging at
the spleen (USEPA, 2004). The concentration of
nitrogenous compounds indicates the occurrence of
extensive anaerobic bacterial activities. It was
reported that groundwater was contaminated from
nitrate fertilizers and manures used in agriculture
(Mccasl et al., 1985; Munsuz and Unver, 1995).
Furthermore, nitrate is used by microorganisms as
7
food resources. In addition, high nitrate levels are
often accompanied by bacterial and pesticide
contamination (Bundy et al., 1994; Aydin, 2007).
Sulphate is the common ion present in water. It can
produce bitter taste at high concentrations.
Sulphate originates from sedimentary rocks and
igneous rocks (Mor et al., 2003). In the present
study, the sulphate contents were quite below the
permissible limits. This study is coincided with the
studies of Thirumathal and Sivakumar, (2003).
Water containing iron does not show deleterious
effect on human health, its presence in drinking
water is not desirable for various reasons.
Excessive iron content makes the water turbid,
discolored and imparts an astringent taste to water
(Remia and Logaswamy, 2010). Iron is
biologically an important element. It is essential to
all organisms and present in haemoglobin system.
A stringent taste is detectable by some persons at
levels above 1 mgL-1 (Rao et al., 2004). In the
present study, the iron contents were slightly
higher than the permissible limits. The high
concentration may be due to dumping of wastes
around the bore wells. TDS represents the amount
of inorganic substances (salts and minerals). High
TDS is commonly objectional or offensive to taste.
A higher concentration of TDS usually serves as
no health threat to humans until the values exceed
10,000 mgL-1 (Aydin, 2007).
Chloride concentration in water indicates presence
of organic waste particularly of animal origin
(Thresh et al., 1949). Increase in chloride
concentration on discharge of municipal and
industrial waste has been reported (Ownby and
Kee, 1967; Priyanka et al., 2010).
Chloride in water may react with sodium to form
sodium chloride. Since sodium chloride has the
salty taste, it can be deduced that chloride in water
impacts a salty taste in the water. In the present
study, the chloride values were lower than the
permissible limits in all groundwater samples.
Hardness is an important parameter in decreasing
the toxic effect of poisonous element. Total
hardness (CaCO3) was found to be high above the
permissible limit. Similar observations were
recorded by Kataria (2000). Hardness has no
adverse effect on human health and water above
hardness of 200 mgL-1 may cause scale deposition
in the water distribution system and more soap
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© Mostafa, Al-Wasify, Sayed and Haroun 2013 | Microbiological and Physicochemical
consumption. Soft water below hardness less than
100 mgL-1 is more corrosive for water pipes
(WHO, 1972; Remia and Logaswamy, 2010).
Chemical oxygen demand (COD), a non
conventional pollutant, is sometimes used to
characterize the global concentration of organic
pollutants. COD can be used to provide data on the
existence of organic substances that can only be
oxidized by aerobic biological processes. Although
this parameter was not considered directly as a risk
tracer (USEPA, 1993). In according to our results
Evens et al. (2004) recorded that high concentration of COD was measured [59–112 mgL-1] in
the groundwater (well water) in France. Biological
oxygen demand (BOD) is a measure of the oxygen
used by microorganisms to decompose this waste.
If there is a large quantity of organic waste in the
water supply, there will also be a lot of bacteria
present working to decompose this waste. In this
case, the demand for oxygen will be high (due to
all the bacteria) so the BOD level will be high. As
the waste is consumed or dispersed through the
water, BOD levels will begin to decline. The pH
has no direct adverse effect on health, but at the
same time alters the taste of water. Higher pH
reduces the germinal potentiality of chlorine and
induces the formation of toxic trihalomethanes
(Trivedy and Goel, 1986; Remia and Logaswamy,
2010). In the present study, the pH values showed
almost neutral condition in all the three zones as
observed by Kataria (2000). Temperature of
drinking water is often not a major concern to
consumers especially in terms of drinking water
quality. The quality of water with respect to
temperature is usually left to the individual taste
and preference and there are no set guidelines for
drinking water temperature (Nishiguchi, 2000). In
the present study, temperature varied from 22 to 34
°C. The variation in the groundwater temperature
may be due to different timing of collection and
influence of seasons (Jayraman et al., 2003;
Priyanka et al., 2010). The electrical conductivity
(EC) of aqueous solution is ability to carry an
electrical current. The current is conducted in
solution by the movement of ions. The ions in
solution are formed by dissociation of inorganic
compounds. For this reason, the measurement of
conductivity gives a good indicator of the
concentration of dissolved salts in water. In the
present study EC values were in the permissible
limits. It is estimated that high turbidity may
constitute health risk through protection of
microorganisms from treatment and stimulation of
microbial growth. Turbidity is the reflection of the
total suspended matter to which it is inversely
related on one hand and is an indication of clay and
inert particles (Nkansah et al., 2011).
5. Conclusion
From the obtained results, it can be concluded that,
some groundwater obtained from some private
wells were not suitable for drinking and human
consumption, this may be attributed to the close of
these wells to El-Rhawy wastewater drainage and
the nature of the soil which may allow the transfer
of some chemicals and bacteria to the groundwater.
In addition, these wells were not so deep.
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