El Tebeen area is characterized by many industrial activities that produce huge liquid wastes. These liquid wastes are disposed in excavated leaks near the Nile River or transported to special disposal sites (pools) in the nearest table land. The liquid dumps may form sources for groundwater contamination through leaching and infiltration processes into permeable layers above the shallow aquifers. The aim of this work is studying the effect of these liquid disposal sites on the groundwater and the Nile using integrated geoelectrical and geochemical techniques. Geoelectrical techniques such as Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), including both two dimensional (2-D) and three dimensional (3-D) resistivity profiling, were used to study the subsurface layering, groundwater occurrence and if there is a contact between these liquid disposal sites and the shallow aquifers in the study area; and to locate the best sites to drill monitoring wells. Water samples from the disposal sites, wells, monitoring wells and surface water were collected for hydrochemical analyses to determine the content of these waste disposals and its relation with the groundwater and also to determine the hydrochemical parameters and the amount of each pollutant, especially that related to the industrial activities.
The results of the geoelectrical interpretation and the drilling of monitoring wells in Ghamaza and factories areas reveal that the disposal sites 1, 2 and 4 are excavated in permeable layers composed of sand and gravels. Consequently, a clear seepage exists from these sites to the shallow aquifer. The comparable values of rCa/rMg and Fe of both the disposal sites and monitoring well samples in Ghamaza area reflect the connection between these sites and the shallow aquifer. Also, the presence of MgCl2 and Fe in the samples from the disposal site 4 and the groundwater in factories area refers to the strong connection between them. On the other hand, the results of the geoelectrical interpretation and the drilling process in the eastern part from the factories areas indicate that no seepage from the disposal site 3 to the adjacent shallow aquifer where it is excavated in sandy clay and clay beds. Also, the oil and grease which exist in the liquid wastes in this site are coating its inner surface and the clay layers act as a natural barrier. Based on the results of this study the disposal sites must be excavated in high lands farther to the east in the factories area and these sites must be designed and built from impermeable materials to avoid seepages. The changes in the groundwater quality must be observed gradually by using the monitoring wells