title: Optimization of integrated water quality management for agricultural efficiency and environmental conservation.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulics, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, amrfliefle@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleifle
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saavedra
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elzeir
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tawfik
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000465:Algorithms; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004534:Egypt; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D045483:Rivers; D012621:Seasons; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards*