Assessment of heavy metals contamination in the Nile River water and adjacent sediments: A case study from Khartoum City and Nile River State, Sudan

Year 2017, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 285 - 294, 01.07.2017

Sulieman Ali Jamal Elfaki Mutwakil Adam Mohammed Dafalla Hager Ahmed Mushtaha Ali

https://doi.org/10.18393/ejss.298949

Cited By: 4

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the heavy
metals concentration and the degree of pollution in the water and adjacent
sediment of the Nile River and its main tributaries at Khartoum City and River
Nile State, Sudan. For this purpose, thirty-three water and sediment samples
were collected from River Nile, Blue Nile, and White Nile.  Water chemical properties and sediment physicо-chemical
properties were measure. Concentrations of heavy
metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, Zn) were determined for
both sediment and water samples using inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES).
Enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (I_geo) were
applied to quantify heavy metals pollution levels in sediment samples. The
revealed that only Fe metal detected in the water samples and its
concentrations within the permissible maximum limit. This indicated that water
is highly suitable for irrigation. Depending on calculated enrichment factor
(EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo), sediment samples were found to be enriched
and polluted with Mn and Mo particularly at Berber site which may as
consequence of gold mining activities in this area. The
study revealed relatively strong to strong correlation between  heavy metals 
of Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti,
Zn  (r2=0.84 to 0.99) and
significant negative correlation with Mo (r2=0.58 to 0.73). This
study recommends regular monitoring of heavy metals in the Nile River and its
main tributaries for conservation and protection from pollution.

Keywords

River nile, heavy metals pollution, ICP-OES, enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index

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