This work aims to evaluate the spatial variation of groundwater quality of the Quaternary aquifer at the southeastern part of the Nile Delta through multivariate statistical techniques. For this study, a total of 209 groundwater samples were collected from 144 shallow wells and 65 deep wells distributed over the study area and analyzed for major elements. Statistical analyses such as descriptive statistics, correlation and Hierarchical cluster analysis for water quality parameters were carried out. Results indicate that the TDS shows a strong positive correlation with Na+, Cl− and SO42−, while the Na+ shows a strong positive correlation with SO42− and Cl− in shallow groundwater samples. In the deep groundwater samples, the TDS shows a strong positive correlation with Na+. The high degree of association between TDS with Na+, Cl− and SO42− indicates the anthropogenic activities among these are landfill waste sites, septic tanks, domestic and industrial effluents and intensive use of fertilizers. The results of HCA indicate that the numbers of clusters of groundwater samples in the study area are changed with depth, while the shallow groundwater samples falls into seven clusters and the deep groundwater samples falls into four clusters. Accordingly, it is certain that the factors characterizing the hydrogeochemical characters of groundwater in the study area are changed with depth. Increasing concentrations of K+, Na+, SO42−, Cl−, and NO3− in shallow wells toward the top of the aquifer point to the influence of anthropogenic activities on the groundwater composition and suggests that they come mostly from surface sources. |
