Pollution in the Nile River
The Nile, the world’s longest river, embedded into humane history and birth place of one of the world’s first civilizations, is the“giver of life” to millions of humans living in its river basin. The Nile runs north through Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea and providing nearly all of Egypt’s fresh water for agriculture, industry, and humane consumption(Hans Cathcart, American Education, Future Demands on Nile River Water and Egyptian National Security.) This causes some major p
Run-off from the agricultural sector contains pollution that may have adverse effect on a river. Pollutants such as salts, nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen), and pesticide residue can be found in this run-off. Agricultural run-off is a “nonpoint” pollutants in that it can come from anywhere in a region, and not form a specific drain. There has been some success in mitigating the effects of agricultural run off as a pollutant. This is a result of increased regulation concerning the use of agrochemicals. A decrease in the use of these chemicals tended to make the waste water form this sector considerably healthier. (University of Michigan, Impacts on Nile River.)
Being a highly urbanized region the Nile River has its share in industry, and with that industrial pollution. There are about 700 industrial facilities along this river. Many of the industrial establishments do not comply with the law about dumping their wastewater into bodies of water such as the Nile. Industrial wastewater is often highly toxic, containing heavy metals that can combine with suspended solids in domestic wastewater to form an impossible to manage sludge. (Hans Cathcart, American Education, Future Demands on Nile River Water and Egyptian National Security.)
Humane wastewater is highly compromised of pathogens, oxygen demanding compounds, and suspended solids. Diseases and parasites are common in such wastewater. Oxygen demanding compounds are also present, and they leech oxygen from the water. Treating keeps the by-products of everyday human water use from negatively affecting the environment it eventually winds up in. Unfortunately, finding ways to treat municipal wastewater is a pressing challenge. While social programs are being setup in many districts along the Nile to increase their capacity for water treatments, as population in the area continues to raise even the facilities 
As the population of people increase, so does the amount of polluted water. This is a major problem because the Nile River flows through 4 countries, including Egypt, so it’s distributing pollution for thousands of miles to hundreds of people. (University of Michigan, Impacts on Nile River.) People need to be aware of what’s happening to the Nile River, and you can help by sending a donation to World Water Monitoring Challenge. They are an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies.
Visit these links to see what some pollution looks like:
Citations
Wilson, Neil. Nations of Egypt. Austin New York: A Harcourt Company
Human Impacts on the Nile River. University of Michigan. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/sec004_gp5/pollution>
The Pyramids of Giza. History. <http://www.history.convtopics/the-egyptian-pyramids->
Cathcart, Hans. Future Demands on Nile River Water and Egyptian National Security. American Education. <http://www1.american.edu/te/ice/nile-202.ht>
“Egypt.” Culturegrams. Ann Arbor Michigan.
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