Coupled Hydrodynamic-Water Quality Model for Pollution Control Scenarios in El-Burullus Lake (Nile Delta, Egypt)

Abstract

El-Burullus Lake is affected by increasing and extensive human activities, rapid social-economic development and the construction of fish ponds nearby. This has significantly impacted the health of the lake eco-system. On the foundation of the two-dimensional depth averaged hydrodynamic model, distributions of the salinity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Ammonium (NH4) were modeled. The heat flux model was also utilized to enhance the accuracy of the calculations in the water quality modeling stage. The calibration and the verification of this model were based on spatially distributed water quality measurements during the period 2010-2011. The correlation coefficients between measured and simulated salinity was found to be 0.79 in January 2011 and 0.84 in August 2010 with a mean errors of 1.3407 and 2.0727 ppt in August 2010 and January 2011 respectively. The results generally agree with the observations, but this indicates that more measurements are needed to verify the predictability of the simulations. In addition, Delft-3D model has been applied in evaluating the feasibility of adding a new artificial inlet or diversion of some drains. The model proved to be an effective tool for the water dynamics, water quality simulation and evaluating different scenarios of such shallow Lake.