This work aims to evaluate the spatial variation
of groundwater quality of the Quaternary aquifer at
the southeastern part of the Nile Delta through multivariate
statistical techniques. For this study, a total of 209 groundwater
samples were collected from 144 shallow wells and
65 deep wells distributed over the study area and analyzed
for major elements. Statistical analyses such as descriptive
statistics, correlation and Hierarchical cluster analysis for
water quality parameters were carried out. Results indicate
that the TDS shows a strong positive correlation with Na+,
Cl−
and SO4
2−, while the Na+
shows a strong positive correlation
with SO4
2− and Cl−
in shallow groundwater samples.
In the deep groundwater samples, the TDS shows a
strong positive correlation with Na+.
The high degree of
association between TDS with Na+,
Cl−
and SO4
2− indicates
the anthropogenic activities among these are landfill
waste sites, septic tanks, domestic and industrial effluents
and intensive use of fertilizers. The results of HCA indicate
that the numbers of clusters of groundwater samples
in the study area are changed with depth, while the shallow
groundwater samples falls into seven clusters and the deep
groundwater samples falls into four clusters. Accordingly,
it is certain that the factors characterizing the hydrogeochemical
characters of groundwater in the study area are
changed with depth. Increasing concentrations of K+,
Na+,
SO4
2−, Cl−,
and NO3
− in shallow wells toward the top of
the aquifer point to the influence of anthropogenic activitieson the groundwater composition and suggests that they
come mostly from surface sources.