USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES AND HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY FOR GROUNDWATER EVALUATION TO THE WEST OF ALEXANDRIA

ABSTRACTThe present investigation has been conducted to characterize the groundwater resources in the area between El Agami and El Hammam, northwest coast of Egypt, and to evaluate its quality as important factors of reliability. A combined tool based on hydrogeoThe groundwater under study is dominated by a moderate to high stage of mineralization, where TDS ranges from 2000-5000 ppm. The major ions in the composition are Na+, Mg++, Cl- and SO4-- and the major hypothetical salts are NaCl, Na2SO4, MgSO4, CaSO4 andThe fresh water recharge that reaches the study area is developed into more saline water under the effects of:1. Leaching and dissolution of terrestrial and marine salts (calcite, dolomite, gypsum, halite).2. Evaporation and / or mixing with evaporated water (Mallahat, lagoonal, sabkhas, salt marches).3. Ion exchange / inverse ion exchange.4. Little and local sea water intrusion at the very close proximity to coast.The investigation has also introduced an evaluation for the usability of the groundwater under study for different purposes (drinking, irrigation and industry). Among the several factors that affect the safety of siting of hazardous installation in the st