Pumping seawater from coastal aquifers for supplying desalination plants

The lack of water in the coastal areas demands an onerous search for an appropriate solution. One solution is that of water transfer from areas of surplus, but this is itself problematical. Technological developments have introduced the possibility of utilizing desalinated seawater as a drinking water source at a competitive price. Abstraction from coastal aquifers that are connected to the sea appears to be the cheapest means of supply. However, pumping poses some problems due to the corrosiveness of seawater. These problems include the difficulties of choosing suitable sites for the abstractions, drilling method, casing, filter pack, as well as the design of a monitoring system to assess aquifer behaviour as a result of the generally high exploitation rate. The 31 boreholes that have been drilled in the Andarax Delta near the city of Almeria are cited as an example of a real application

Pumping seawater from coastal aquifers for supplying desalination plants

The lack of water in the coastal areas demands an onerous search for an appropriate solution. One solution is that of water transfer from areas of surplus, but this is itself problematical. Technological developments have introduced the possibility of utilizing desalinated seawater as a drinking water source at a competitive price. Abstraction from coastal aquifers that are connected to the sea appears to be the cheapest means of supply. However, pumping poses some problems due to the corrosiveness of seawater. These problems include the difficulties of choosing suitable sites for the abstractions, drilling method, casing, filter pack, as well as the design of a monitoring system to assess aquifer behaviour as a result of the generally high exploitation rate. The 31 boreholes that have been drilled in the Andarax Delta near the city of Almeria are cited as an example of a real application

Spatial distribution of the PCA factors applied to groundwater physicochemical parameters (Castell de Ferro, Granada)

Plotting the results of the Principal Components Analysis by means of ordinary kriging allows the detection of preferential flowpathways and the identification of the advances of the pollution by seawater intrusion and agricultural activitie

Hydrogeological properties of the matrix of carbonate rocks from the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain)

The study of 181 rock samples from boreholes drilled in different locations of the Betic Cordillera throw hydraulic conductivity values that range from 5,25x10's to 2.71x10',2 cm/s and interconnected porosity values between 0.2091 and 0.004458. Higher values generally correspond to miocene calcareous sandstones, although hydraulic conductivity can reach more elevated values in some limestone and dolostone samples. Lower values were found in marly limestones and marble

Sondeos de investigación en un acuífero kárstico costero (Castell de Ferro, Granada)

Data from 4 investigation boreholes, drilled in the marbles of the Castell de Ferro aquifer and separated some 5 m each one from the next one, are discussed. Several karstic discontinuities are detected at different depths depending on which borehole they are in. Flowmeter measurements show the presence of vertical flows at different positions. An electrical conductivity anomaly is detected and interpreted as a result of the drilling metho