Hydrodynamic and Ecological Modeling for Water Quality Assessment in Lake Qaroun, Egypt

Hydrodynamic and Ecological Modeling for Water Quality Assessment in Lake Qaroun, Egypt | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Hydrodynamic and Ecological Modeling for Water Quality Assessment in Lake Qaroun, Egypt Nermeen E. Eltahan, Noha H. Moghazy, Ibrahim A. Gaafar, Hossam M. Moghazy This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8956443/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Qaroun Lake, a closed salty lake in the Fayoum depression of Egypt, is an important natural resource that supports fishing, wildlife, and local communities. It mainly receives water from a dense drainage network, with some possible small contribution from groundwater. Since it has no outlet and loses water only through evaporation, its salinity keeps increasing. Any change in the amount or quality of incoming water strongly affects the lake’s environment. The environmental condition of Qaroun Lake was studied using the MIKE 21 model, Mike3, Eco Lab for water quality in addition to Transport modules to study contamination dispersion, which simulates water flow and quality. The study analyzed the changes in salinity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), and Dissolved Oxygen (DO), then compared them with field measurements to support the analysis. The results showed very high salinity due to reduced inflow, high BOD from agricultural and domestic wastewater, and low dissolved oxygen caused by high temperature and salinity. These conditions threaten fish and other aquatic life. This study also evaluates lake water quality under a maximum contamination condition due to continued reuse of drainage network water. The study emphasizes the need for an ecological management plan to reduce pollution, improve water quality, and protect the lake’s long-term ecological balance and sustainability. Qaroun Lake Environmental Balance Salinity Simulation Model Water Quality Ecological Modeling. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Highlights.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8956443","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":597884178,"identity":"9619abd0-344e-4703-8e28-b5ddfa376f6b","order_by":0,"name":"Nermeen E. 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It mainly receives water from a dense drainage network, with some possible small contribution from groundwater. Since it has no outlet and loses water only through evaporation, its salinity keeps increasing. Any change in the amount or quality of incoming water strongly affects the lake\u0026rsquo;s environment. The environmental condition of Qaroun Lake was studied using the MIKE 21 model, Mike3, Eco Lab for water quality in addition to Transport modules to study contamination dispersion, which simulates water flow and quality. The study analyzed the changes in salinity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), and Dissolved Oxygen (DO), then compared them with field measurements to support the analysis. The results showed very high salinity due to reduced inflow, high BOD from agricultural and domestic wastewater, and low dissolved oxygen caused by high temperature and salinity. These conditions threaten fish and other aquatic life. 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