Metals in water from the River Nile tributaries in Egypt.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe and Cd metals in water samples collected from different tributaries of the Nile River in Egypt. Samples were taken from El-Sarsawia, El-Bagoria, Bahr Shebin canals, in addition to three drainage canal sites El-Embaby, El-Menofi and Miet-Rabiha drain. According to the data, Fe has the highest concentration, followed by Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu. The mean Pb concentration ranged from 8.678 to 21.948 μg/L, in water samples collected from El-Sarsawia canal and El-Embaby drain, respectively. The Cu and Cd mean concentrations ranged from 0.67 and 0.500 to 4.908 and 5.650 μg/L, respectively, in water samples collected from Bahr-Shebin canal and El-Embaby drain, respectively. The water samples from all location sites are polluted by Pb according to EPA. Fe and Cu values are within the allowable limits.