Egypt is the most popular country -in the basin- agriculturally and industrially. The Nile River in Egypt provides a significant source of drinking water to the community and has important fishery values. Anthropogenic Activity including, agricultural runoff, industrial and municipal wastes, potentially affected the Nile River water quality. According to (Agricultural Policy Reform Program, 2002) the flow rate of the Nile depends on the water stored in Nasser Lake to achieve needs within the Egyptian annual water budget. Industrial wastewater, oil pollution, municipal wastewater, agricultural drainage, and natural cyanotoxins are the main sources behind River Nile pollution [1]. The most dangerous contaminants released into the by humans in River Nile are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to its long persistence in the environment, ability to biomagnify and bioaccumulate in ecosystems [2]. Persistence of such chemicals in soils, air, and water, give rise to their ubiquitous distribution in the environment, penetration into food chains, and bioaccumulation in humans. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that combine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other by-product substances such as dioxins and furans. Over 5o years, dangerous pesticides such as toxaphene, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dieldrin, lindane, and heptachlor were used to fight agricultural pests and control disease vectors for example malaria. The way that pesticides are used in Africa caused serious environmental and health problems much more than elsewhere especially in Egypt as most sewage release to the river takes place in Lower Egypt.
These problems are represented by the accumulation of organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues resulting in 50,000 tons of pesticides, as well as tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil [3]. Wastewater contamination problem significantly increased since the expansion of industrialization in Egypt because of discharging large quantities of wastewater without treatment, for example, electroplating industries wastewater which was characterized by a high content of Cr, Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn discharging such wastewater in the Nile certainly negatively affects the water of the river for drinking, irrigation purposes, and aquatic life.[3]. There are many studies covering the contamination level of water in Nasser Lake and there is a growing concern about the need for water and sediment quality management in the lake. Studies of lake Nasser contaminated water showed the percentages of heavy metals such as Cd, Co, Cu, Mn and Zn island they were respectively in the range of 0.74–4.89, 0.3–8.14, 0.87–13.8, 0.67–24.96 and 1.84–224.15 mg/l and 0.4–3.14, 0.6– 5.64, 3.38–18.92, 8.45–42.49 and 16.67–384.84 mg/l [4]. The most dangerous contaminants these types of heavy metals: Cd, Hg, and Pb as they are toxic and non-degradable and have a tendency to bioaccumulate and cause serious diseases such as Inhibit Hemoglobin synthesis, Kidney dysfunction, Spontaneous abortion, Congenital malfunction, Central nervous system disorder, and Hemolysis [4]. The type of water treatment that is used in the Egyptian water factories nowadays depends on the chemicals disinfectants such as chlorine that way has its own disadvantage as with a small change or missing up with the concentration of it can cause serious diseases and lead to immediate irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. So, there is a risk of poisoning from water purifying chemicals [5]. Nanotechnology is agreed to be the best way for water treatment. By the combination of microbiology and nanotechnology water can be treated and pollutants could be simply separated. The two techniques that will be used are the micro-nano bubbling system and biofilters.
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The micro-nano bubble is ten-thousand times smaller and imperceptible to the human eye. Since it is so small, it takes 5 to 8 hours to reach the surface. The micro-nano bubble has an electromagnetic field of positive and negative ions that works like a magnet so, on its way to the surface of the water, it attracts contaminants and once they are attracted can’t move anymore and die [2]. The second method will be biofilters. A biofilter is a media which different types of microorganisms attach to and from a biological layer called a biofilm. It attracts water bacteria and preserves the good species that contribute to micro-flora conservation and bioremediation. Biofilters are commonly used in water treatment worldwide, but they must be adapted to the species’ conditions of the local water[7].
These two methods showed significantly water treatment improving results in Japan in El Cascajo lake -by Marino Morikawa - in only 4 months as the lake was entirely decontaminated and at least 40 species of migratory birds have returned to El Cascajo Lake, and 10 fish species have come back to inhabit its waters [6]. Concerning the results of Marino’s project, this project (which will be conducted on lake Nasser) will firstly aim to the removal of the organic contaminants (POPs) by the introduction of an ozone micro-nano bubbling system as with ozone microbubbles with - a 2.0 ppm dissolved ozone- in the depths of polluted waters the persistent organic contaminants will e attracted to them and with the ozone reactions water treatment will be accelerated [6].
Secondly, the removal of heavy metals using biofilters with Photosynthetic bacteria due to its high ability to remove heavy metals such as Cd, Hg, and Pb, dyes, and macro-pollutants from contaminated water. With the usage of these two methods, it is predicted to have a significant decrease in the contaminants' level resulting in the retrieval of the marine like and prosperity in the total environment around the lake in a short time due to the usage of 2 eco-friendly, durable systems that leave no by-products that have any toxicity to the environment [7,8].