Bacteriological, parasitological and chemical pollution of Nile River water at some Greater Cairo sites.

The River Nile, Egypt's main source of water, is polluted by agricultural, industrial and municipal wastewater discharges. The paper reports a study of biological pollution of river water through bacterial and parasitological analysis, besides chemical pollution by cadmium and lead. The researchers collected water samples seasonally from 12 sites in Greater Cairo along a year (from July 2019 to June 2020). Some sites were contaminated with total coliforms, Acanthamoeba sp., and Cryptosporidium oocysts, whereas Naegleria sp. was recorded at all sites. Although the recorded Cd concentrations were below the permissible levels in all sites, the concentration of Pb exceeded the permissible limit in some sites. In conclusion, Nile River water in Greater Cairo region is contaminated, especially with total coliforms and free living amoebae. This health threat needs to be controlled and diminished by law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]