10 research outputs found
Groundwater nitrate pollution in the recharge zone of a regional Quaternary flow system (Wielkopolska region, Poland)
Validation of an intrinsic groundwater pollution vulnerability methodology using a national nitrate database.
The importance of groundwater for potable supply, and the many sources of
anthropogenic contamination, has led to the development of intrinsic groundwater
vulnerability mapping. An Analysis of Co-Variance and Analysis of Variance are
used to validate the extensively applied UK methodology, based upon nitrate
concentrations from 1,108 boreholes throughout England and Wales. These largely
confirm the current aquifer and soil leaching potential classifications and
demonstrate the benefits of combining soil and low permeability drift
information. European legislation such as the Water Framework Directive will
require more dynamic assessments of pollutant risk to groundwater. These results
demonstrate that a number of improvements are required to future intrinsic
groundwater vulnerability methodologies. The vertical succession of geological
units must be included, so that non-aquifers can be zoned in the same way as
aquifers for water supply purposes, while at the same time recognising their
role in influencing the quality of groundwater in deeper aquifers.
Classifications within intrinsic vulnerability methodologies should be based
upon defined diagnostic properties rather than expert judgement. Finally the
incorporation into groundwater vulnerability methodologies of preferential flow
in relation to geological deposits, soil type and land management practices
represents a significant, but important, future challenge