INCREASING THE EFFFICINCY OF El-SALAM CANAL PROJECT USING DATA DRIVEN WATER QUALITY MODELS

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Drainage Research Institute, National Water Research Center

2 Hydrogeology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University

Abstract

The Egyptian Government started the El-Salam Canal Project (ESCP) for the reclamation of an estimated 620,000 feddans of desert land in north sinia. It receives fresh water from Damietta Branch of the River Nile and agricultural drainage water from Lower Serw, Farsqur and Bahr Hadus drains. The present study aims to increase the efficiency of the project and assess the quality of water in the feeding sources and compare it to the current/future operating conditions. The results are obtained by developing a numerical/data driven models to simulate the project working conditions using real field data. Then, an alternative working scenarios are proposed. The water quality data were collected monthly for the period 2003/2015 different water quality parameters are considered. Water samples were collected from 8 locations along the main reach of El-Salam canal and the feeding drains. They were analyzed for some water quality parameters such as TDS, BOD.
The results indicate that in months of high demand, it is possible to increase the discharges to feed ESCP from Farsqur, Lower Serw or Hadus drains (if needed/available) assuming having their current levels of concentrations. This will not significantly deteriorate the canal water in relation to the water quality parameters of TDS and BOD.
 

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