Freshwater & Lakes Division, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Cairo, Egypt.
Faculty of Education, Matrouh University, Marsa Matruh, Egypt.
Environ Monit Assess. 2020 Mar 11;192(4):228. doi: 10.1007/s10661-020-8195-4.
Rosetta and Damietta are the main branches of the Nile River in Egypt. They provide the required freshwater for different usage for about 20 million people. In the present study, chemical and biological indices were used to assess the water quality and provide a full image of the environmental status in the investigated area. Generally, the chemical parameters, except the dissolved oxygen, were at higher levels in Rosetta Branch when compared to Damietta Branch. Also, Damietta Branch frequently showed the presence of the macroinvertebrate families that are bioindicators of moderate and good water quality. Contrarily, the most resistant species to pollution were frequently recorded in the Rosetta Branch. According to Canadian WQI, the water of Rosetta Branch is classified from "marginal" to "poor" for the drinking and aquatic life uses and "fair" to "good" for irrigation usage. On the other side, the water quality of Damietta Branch is classified as "fair" with respect to drinking water and "good" to aquatic life and irrigation. Based on using macroinvertebrate families as bioindicators, the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) index and the Nile Biotic Pollution Index (NBPI) indicated that the water quality of the Damietta Branch was within "moderate" class, while Rosetta Branch is categorized from "very polluted" to "extremely polluted" classes. The results proved that both BMWP and NBPI have coincided with the CWQI for the drinking and aquatic life indices (p < 0.0001) indicating the validity of BMWP and NBPI to assess the water quality of the investigated area.
罗塞塔和达米埃塔是埃及尼罗河的两个主要支流，为 2000 多万人提供了不同用途所需的淡水。本研究采用化学和生物指标来评估水质，并全面了解调查区域的环境状况。一般来说，与达米埃塔支流相比，罗塞塔支流的化学参数（溶解氧除外）水平较高。此外，达米埃塔支流经常出现可作为中等到良好水质生物指标的大型无脊椎动物科。相反，对污染最具抵抗力的物种经常在罗塞塔支流中被记录到。根据加拿大水质指数（Canadian WQI），罗塞塔支流的水质被归类为“边缘”到“差”，适用于饮用水和水生生物用途，以及“公平”到“好”，适用于灌溉用途。另一方面，达米埃塔支流的水质被归类为“公平”，适用于饮用水，以及“好”到水生生物和灌溉。根据大型无脊椎动物科作为生物指标，生物监测工作组（BMW）指数和尼罗河生物污染指数（NBPI）表明，达米埃塔支流的水质处于“中等”类别，而罗塞塔支流则被归类为“非常污染”到“极度污染”类别。结果证明，BMW 和 NBPI 与 CWQI 对饮用水和水生生物的指标一致（p<0.0001），表明 BMW 和 NBPI 对评估调查区域的水质是有效的。
