Towards an effective protection of groundwater resources: putting policy into practice with the drinking water protection file

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 635-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cors van den Brink ◽  
Susanne Wuijts
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Protection ◽  
Point Source Pollution ◽  
Protection Level ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
European Water ◽  
Resource Needs ◽  
Planning Cycle ◽  
Voluntary Basis

Groundwater in the Netherlands is a major resource for drinking water. As such it must be carefully monitored and managed. Evaluation of the European Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD) showed that protection of this valuable resource needs improvement. The Drinking Water Protection File identifies necessary measures needed per water abstraction site. The Protection File is part of the Dutch national EU-WFD implementation strategy, intended to improve the protection level of groundwater resources. It consists of a national top-down framework and a regional bottom-up process, which respectively enforces commitment and enhances stakeholder awareness regarding risks and actions needed regarding the identification and implementation of measures enhancing the protection level of groundwater resources. It is yet uncertain whether the initial implementation of the measures in the first planning cycle is adequate to obtain compliance with EU-WFD objectives in 2021, because (i) some of these measures are on a voluntary basis and (ii) standards for the remediation of point source pollution and allowed application of nutrients do not currently comply with drinking water standards.

Pesticides in groundwater and drinking water wells: overview of the situation in the Netherlands

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 1277-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. N. M. Schipper ◽  
M. J. M. Vissers ◽  
A. M. A van der Linden
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Fresh Groundwater ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
Pesticides Residues ◽  
Monitoring Wells ◽  
Water Wells

In the Netherlands, many of the fresh groundwater resources are vulnerable to pollution. Owing to high population densities and intensive farming practices, pesticide residues are found in groundwater at many places. Hence a number of drinking water abstraction wells contain pesticides residues, causing considerable costs for purification. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires countries to assess the chemical status of groundwater bodies and set up monitoring plans for groundwater quality, including pesticides. 771 groundwater samples were taken from monitoring wells in 2006 and analysed for a broad list of pesticides in order to fulfil these requirements. Pesticide were detected in 27% of samples, while in 11% the WFD limit of 0.1 μg/l was exceeded. In this paper, these and earlier measurements are evaluated further, considering also measurements in drinking water wells, information about the origin of measured pesticides and calculated trends in use and emissions. The measurements in the monitoring wells showed that where pesticides are used, 15–55% (minimal and maximal estimation) of the wells in shallow groundwater (1 to 20m below soil surface) contain pesticides residues at concentrations above 0.1 μg/l. When the metabolites BAM and AMPA are excluded (as not relevant in human toxicological terms), the estimation range is 7–37%. These patterns observed in shallow groundwater are reflected by the occurrence of pesticides in vulnerable abstraction wells that are used for the production of drinking water. The WFD requires the determination of both status and trends. The design of current monitoring network is evaluated from this perspective. Several recommendations are made for more adequate and efficient monitoring.

Pollution potential of oil-contaminated soil on groundwater resources in Kuwait

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 259-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Literathy ◽  
M. Quinn ◽  
M. Al-Rashed
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽  
Fluorescence Measurement ◽  
Groundwater Aquifer ◽  
Freshwater Resource

The only natural freshwater resource of Kuwait occurs as lenses floating on the saline groundwater in the northern part of the country, near to the oil fields. Rainwater is the only means of recharge of this limited groundwater resource. This groundwater is used as bottled drinking water and the fresh groundwater aquifer is considered as a strategic drinking water reserve for Kuwait. As a result of the 1991 Gulf War, the upper soil layer has been widely contaminated with crude oil and crude oil combustion products, which are potential pollutants likely affecting the groundwater resources. Significant efforts have been made to assess this pollution. These included: (a) a soil survey for assessing the soil contamination, and (b) leaching experiments to characterise the mobilization of the soil-associated pollutants. Fluorescence measurement techniques were used during field surveys as well as for laboratory testing. In addition, determination of the total extractable matter (TEM), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and GC/MS measurement of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were performed for the assessments. The laser induced fluorescence (LIF) measurement, having good correlation with the other laboratory measurements, was proved to provide necessary information for the assessment of the oil-contamination level in the desert soil. The subsequent leaching test with water demonstrated the mobilization of the fluorescing compounds (e.g. PAHs), and the alteration in the leaching characteristics of the contamination during the long-term environmental weathering of the oil.

Implementation of Brackish Groundwater Desalination Using Wind-Generated Electricity as a Proxy for Energy Storage: A Case Study of the Energy-Water Nexus in Texas

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Clayton ◽  
Ashlynn S. Stillwell ◽  
Michael E. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Compressed Air ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Storage Technologies ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

With a push toward renewable electricity generation, wind power has grown substantially in recent U.S. history and technologies continue to improve. However, the intermittency associated with wind-generated electricity without storage has limited the amounts sold on the grid. Furthermore, continental wind farms have a diurnal and seasonal variability that is mismatched with demand. To increase the broader use of wind power technologies, the development of systems that can operate intermittently during off-peak hours must be considered. Utilization of wind-generated electricity for desalination of brackish groundwater presents opportunities to increase use of a low-carbon energy source and supply alternative drinking water that is much needed in some areas. As existing water supplies dwindle and population grows, cities are looking for new water sources. Desalination of brackish groundwater provides one potential water source for inland cities. However, this process is energy-intensive, and therefore potentially incongruous with goals of reducing carbon emissions. Desalination using reverse osmosis is a high-value process that does not require continuous operation and therefore could utilize variable wind power. That is, performing desalination in an intermittent way to match wind supply can help mitigate the challenges of integrating wind into the grid while transforming a low-value product (brackish water and intermittent power) into a high-value product (treated drinking water). This option represents a potentially more economic form of mitigating wind variability than current electricity storage technologies. Also, clean energy and carbon policies under consideration by the U.S. Congress could help make this integration more economically feasible due to incentives for low-carbon energy sources. West Texas is well-suited for desalination of brackish groundwater using wind power, as both resources are abundant and co-located. Utility-scale wind resource potential is found in most of the region. Additionally, brackish groundwater is found at depths less than 150 m, making west Texas a useful geographic testbed to analyze for this work, with applicability for areas with similar climates and water supply scarcity. Implementation of a wind-powered desalination project requires both economic and geographic feasibility. Capital and operating cost data for wind turbines and desalination membranes were used to perform a thermoeconomic analysis to determine the economic feasibility. The availability of wind and brackish groundwater resources were modeled using geographic information systems tools to illustrate areas where implementation of a wind-powered desalination project is economically feasible. Areas with major populations were analyzed further in the context of existing and alternative water supplies. Utilization of wind-generated electricity for desalination presents a feasible alternative to energy storage methods. Efficiency, economics, and ease of development and operation of off-peak water treatment were compared to different energy storage technologies: pumped hydro, batteries, and compressed air energy storage. Further economics of compressed air energy storage and brackish groundwater desalination were examined with a levelized lifetime cost approach. Implementation of water desalination projects using wind-generated electricity might become essential in communities with wind and brackish groundwater resources that are facing water quality and quantity issues and as desires to implement low carbon energy sources increase. This analysis assesses the economic and geographic feasibility and tradeoffs of such projects for areas in Texas.

Drinking Water Protection

Water Law ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 258-262
Author(s):  
William Goldfarb
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Protection

scholarly journals The use of groundwater crustacean communities as indicators for aquifers quality in the semi-arid region of north-central Chile

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanda Iepure ◽  
Nicolas Gouin ◽  
Angeline Bertin ◽  
Ana Camacho ◽  
Antonio González-Ramón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Nutrient Loads ◽  
Groundwater Temperature ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
Over Exploitation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Semi Arid

Chile has large extensions of arid and semi-arid regions throughout the whole country, where the intensive demands and use of water resources, especially groundwater for irrigations and mining activities, increased dramatically over the last decades. The aquifer depletions due to water abstraction for irrigation and nutrient loads, exert major alterations of water quality, groundwater recharge and the natural renewal rate. All these factors diminish the aquifer value for the users and contribute to the degradation of groundwater as environment and habitat for fauna. This intensive use of groundwater resources in Chile brought to significant social and economic benefits, but their inadequate management resulted in negative environmental, legal and socioeconomic consequences. In this study, we aimed at providing a first assessment of environmental alterations of groundwater ecosystems from agricultural watersheds in northern Chile by specifically evaluating the effects of nitrogen and pesticide loads on groundwater communities and identifing the ecosystem service alterations due to agricultural activities. The study has been performed in a glacial aquifer from Coquimbo region; 250 km north of Santiago de Chile, the floodplain of which is dominated by agriculture (fruits tress, vineyards). Due to low regional precipitations (100-240 mm/year) the aquifer is primarily recharged by snowmelt from the Andean chain and surface runoff. The relative groundwater levels, groundwater temperature, chemical analysis of nitrogen and total phosphorus and pesticide concentrations were examined, along with the evaluation of crustacean biodiversity and spatial distribution pattern. Stygofauna taxonomic richness and the presence of stygobites have been related more to groundwater level stability than to chemical water parameters indicating that over-exploitation has a negative impact on habitat suitability for groundwater invertebrates. Groundwater biota assessment is essential in understanding the impact produced by agriculture activities on groundwater as a resource and as ecosystem, a nexus that becomes more and more widely recognized. The rationale and the preliminary results of this study are summarized in the Suppl. material 1.

scholarly journals On the hygienic scientific provision of the Water strategy of the Russian Federation

2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (9) ◽  
pp. 923-928
Author(s):  
Oxsana O. Sinitsyna ◽  
Victor V. Turbinsky
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Water Protection ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
Water Strategy ◽  
Oriented Approach

Increased competition between producers has now become one of the critical features of the country’s economy. Within the framework of the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation, technological issues play a significant role both in the protection of water resources and in compliance with the safety requirements and favourable quality of the water used. For more than 20 years worldwide, there has been a transition from a hazard-oriented to a risk-oriented approach in the organization of nature and water protection activities. The use of a risk-based approach determines the mandatory monitoring of all pollutants and calculation methods for assessing various types of toxicity of a substance, their hazardous concentrations based on knowledge of the structure and information about the hazard of substances from international databases and registers. Based on the analysis of the main provisions of the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2020 in conjunction with the conditions of water use affecting the health of the population, the priority problems of technological development in the water protection sector and their medical and preventive support were identified. Measures have been outlined to ensure the compliance of the technology for the protection of water bodies, sources of household and drinking water supply to the population and industrial development for monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of hygienic regulation, sanitary and epidemiological examination of project documentation and a risk-oriented approach to ensuring the activities of business entities on the territory of sanitary protection zones of drinking water sources: water supply, wastewater treatment from point and diffuse sources of pollution.

scholarly journals Study Relating to the Spatial Distribution of Ground Water Quality for Different Elements using Legacy Data of RWS&S, Andhra Pradesh, India

2014 ◽  
Vol XL-8 ◽  
pp. 383-390
Author(s):  
P. Prakash ◽  
A. Kumar Das ◽  
C. V. S. Sandilya
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Ground Water ◽  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Contamination Level ◽  
Ground Water Quality

The state of Andhra Pradesh, India falls in water stress<sup>4</sup> area. The primary objective of this study is to examine the spatial distribution of different chemical elements with respect to its contamination level. About 70 % of drinking water needs in rural areas and 40 % drinking water needs in urban areas are met from groundwater resources. In the last decades, rapid population growth coupled with agricultural expansion due to subsidized power to agriculture has significantly increased demand on groundwater resources. Combined to this, the effect of Global warming has put stress on ground water which is resulting in declines in water levels and deterioration of ground water quality. This may be evidenced by the fact that the phreatic aquifer which was in use two decades ago, is existing no more now in some of the parts of the study area and the water is being drawn from deeper aquifers beyond phreatic aquifers. The study has been carried out for which one or more elements are contaminated and to study its spatial distribution.

scholarly journals Spatial Distribution of Fluoride in Drinking Water in Dhamar City, Yemen

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63
Author(s):  
Hefdhallah Al Aizari ◽  
Rachida Fegrouche ◽  
Ali Al Aizari ◽  
Saeed S. Albaseer
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
World Health ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
The World ◽  
Pca Method ◽  
Health Organization

The fact that groundwater is the only source of drinking water in Yemen mandates strict monitoring of its quality. The aim of this study was to measure the levels of fluoride in the groundwater resources of Dhamar city. Dhamar city is the capital of Dhamar governorate located in the central plateau of Yemen. For this purpose, fluoride content in the groundwater from 16 wells located around Dhamar city was measured. The results showed that 75% of the investigated wells contain fluoride at or below the permissible level set by the World Health Organization (0.5 – 1.5 mg/L), whereas 25% of the wells have relatively higher fluoride concentrations (1.59 – 184 mg/L). The high levels of fluoride have been attributed to the anthropogenic activities in the residential areas near the contaminated wells. Interestingly, some wells contain very low fluoride concentrations (0.30 – 0.50 mg/L).  Data were statistically treated using the principal component analysis (PCA) method to investigate any possible correlations between various factors. PCA shows a high correlation between well depth and its content of fluoride. On the other hand, health problems dominating in the study area necessitate further studies to investigate any correlation with imbalanced fluoride intake.

scholarly journals Monitoring and risk assessment for groundwater sources in rural communities of Romania (GROUNDWATERISK)

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oana Teodora Moldovan ◽  
Rannveig Øvrevik Skoglund ◽  
Horia Leonard Banciu ◽  
Alexandra Dinu Cucoș ◽  
Erika Andrea Levei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Groundwater Ecosystems ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Agricultural Areas

In the past 100 years, a decreasing rainfall trend has been recorded on Romanian territory, a trend that continues today. Therefore, realistic estimation of the groundwater resources is crucial, especially for the rural communities lacking the economic power to use alternative sources of drinking water. The groundwater sources used by rural communities in Romania generally originate directly from caves, wells or springs with no proper evaluation of the water quality. Groundwater is exposed to different pollutants, as bats' guano in caves, fertilizers in agricultural areas or livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) farms on the surface. On the other hand, the water extracted directly from inside the caves is affecting groundwater ecosystems, highly vulnerable to any human impact and neglected by European legislation so far. The project aims to monitor, during two consecutive years, groundwater sources with different degrees of above- and underground pollution, from different regions of Romania. To achieve the goals of the project, a multidisciplinary monitoring strategy that will include measurements of hydrological, physico-chemical and biological (microbiology and aquatic invertebrates’ assessment) parameters alongside the quantification of radon and stable isotopes, rainfall or possible inflows of water. The specific outcomes of this project are: i) to test, develop and validate a new, more rapid and efficient method for monitoring and risk assessment of groundwater sources – and not only – by using molecular techniques, and propose this method to the water agencies in Romania; ii) to propose for Romanian authorities to implement a harmonized coherent methodology to measure radon concentration in water, as a consequence of EURATOM Directive; and iii) to educate local communities that are using groundwater as source for drinking water and raise young people’s awareness on the benefits of ecosystem services provided by the groundwater.

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