Assessment of eutrophication in Lake Maryout in Egypt

Abstract EN

Lake Maryout is one of five coastal inland lakes Along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast that play an important role in improving the drainage water quality that eventually reach the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition, these lakes participate significantly (up to 40%) in the national fish production, supporting the national economy and securing a source of provision and economic support and jobs (directly and indirectly) for many of the local communities.

Large amounts of drainage waters that carry agricultural, domestic and industrial wastes are dumped into Lake Maryout every year.

These wastewaters carry fertilizers, pesticides, organic matter and heavy metals, and pose a significant threat on the lake environment and affect the biological and microbiological life that are very important in the fish life cycle and fish production.

As a result, many biological species in these lakes are extinct, in addition to the deterioration of the quantity and the quality of fish production in the lakes, which is sometimes not safe for human consumption.

Eutrophication of a lake is a natural process that can be accelerated by man’s activities that introduce an excess of nutrients together with other pollutants.

A eutrophic lake experiences an excessive growth of algae and larger aquatic plants; such growth consumes dissolved oxygen, vital for the fish and other animal life.

This growth and proliferation of vegetation currently occurs significantly in Lake Maryout due to the high nutrient loadings that have been entering the lakes for a number of years.

In this study, a model is developed and calibrated to simulate the overall eutrophic response of Lake Maryout.

The application of the model for load reduction scenarios provides an overall assessment and proposes control inferences of the eutrophication process in Lake Maryout in the light of the local and international regulations.