The Campina de Faro (CF) aquifer system, located on the south coast of Portugal, is an important source of groundwater,
mostly used for agriculture purposes. In some areas, this multi-layered aquifer is contaminated with high
concentration of nitrates, possibly arising from excessive usage of fertilizers, reaching to values as high as 300
mg/L.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Agostinho, Rui

Carvalho, José Martins de

Carvalho, Tiago Martins de

Costa, Luís

Leitão, Teresa

Lobo-Ferreira, João Paulo

Monteiro, José Paulo

Oliveira, Manuel

Sapientia

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 17, EGU2015-10415-3, 2015EGU General Assembly 2015© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Estimating harvested rainwater at greenhouses in south Portugal aquiferCampina de Faro for potential infiltration in Managed Aquifer Recharge.Luís Costa (1), José Paulo Monteiro (2), Teresa Leitão (3), João Paulo Lobo-Ferreira (4), Manuel Oliveira (5),José Martins de Carvalho (6), Tiago Martins de Carvalho (7), and Rui Agostinho (8)(1) Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal (lrcosta@ualg.pt), (2) Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal(jpmontei@ualg.pt), (3) Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, Portugal (tleitao@lnec.pt), (4) LaboratórioNacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, Portugal (lferreira@lnec.pt), (5) Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa,Portugal (moliveira@lnec.pt), (6) TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (jmc@tarh.pt), (7)TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (tcarvalho@tarh.pt), (8) TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente eRecursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (rdagostinho@tarh.pt)The Campina de Faro (CF) aquifer system, located on the south coast of Portugal, is an important source of ground-water, mostly used for agriculture purposes. In some areas, this multi-layered aquifer is contaminated with highconcentration of nitrates, possibly arising from excessive usage of fertilizers, reaching to values as high as 300mg/L. In order to tackle this problem, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) techniques are being applied at demon-stration scale to improve groundwater quality through aquifer recharge, in both infiltration basins at the river bedof ephemeral river Rio Seco and existing traditional large diameter wells located in this aquifer. In order to assessthe infiltration capacity of the existing infrastructures, in particular infiltration basins and large diameter wells atCF aquifer, infiltration tests were performed, indicating a high infiltration capacity of the existing infrastructures.Concerning the sources of water for recharge, harvested rainwater at greenhouses was identified in CF aquiferarea as one of the main potential sources for aquifer recharge, once there is a large surface area occupied by theseinfrastructures at the demo site. This potential source of water could, in some cases, be redirected to the large diam-eter wells or to the infiltration basins at the riverbed of Rio Seco. Estimates of rainwater harvested at greenhouseswere calculated based on a 32 year average rainfall model and on the location of the greenhouses and their surfaceareas, the latter based on aerial photograph. Potential estimated annual rainwater intercepted by greenhouses atCF aquifer accounts an average of 1.63 hm3/year. Nonetheless it is unlikely that the totality of this amount canbe harvested, collected and redirected to aquifer recharge infrastructures, for several reasons, such as the lack ofappropriate greenhouse infrastructures, conduits or a close location between greenhouses and large diameter wellsand infiltration basins. Anyway, this value is a good indication of the total amount of the harvested rainfall thatcould be considered for future MAR solutions. Given the estimates on the greenhouse harvested rainwater andthe infiltration capacity of the infiltration basins and large diameter wells, it is intended to develop groundwaterflow models in order to assess the nitrate washing rate in the CF aquifer. This work is being developed under thescope of MARSOL Project (MARSOL-GA-2013-619120), in which Campina de Faro aquifer system is one of theseveral case studies. This project aims to demonstrate that MAR is a sound, safe and sustainable strategy that canbe applied with great confidence in finding solutions to water scarcity in Southern Europe.

Estimating harvested rainwater at greenhouses in south Portugal aquifer Campina de Faro for potential infiltration in Managed Aquifer Recharge

Universidade do Algarve

Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vol. 17, EGU2015-10415-3, 2015
EGU General Assembly 2015
© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Estimating harvested rainwater at greenhouses in south Portugal aquifer
Campina de Faro for potential infiltration in Managed Aquifer Recharge.
Luís Costa (1), José Paulo Monteiro (2), Teresa Leitão (3), João Paulo Lobo-Ferreira (4), Manuel Oliveira (5),
José Martins de Carvalho (6), Tiago Martins de Carvalho (7), and Rui Agostinho (8)
(1) Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal (lrcosta@ualg.pt), (2) Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
(jpmontei@ualg.pt), (3) Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, Portugal (tleitao@lnec.pt), (4) Laboratório
Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, Portugal (lferreira@lnec.pt), (5) Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa,
Portugal (moliveira@lnec.pt), (6) TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (jmc@tarh.pt), (7)
TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (tcarvalho@tarh.pt), (8) TARH Lda - Terra, Ambiente e
Recursos Hídricos, Lisboa, Portugal (rdagostinho@tarh.pt)
The Campina de Faro (CF) aquifer system, located on the south coast of Portugal, is an important source of ground-
water, mostly used for agriculture purposes. In some areas, this multi-layered aquifer is contaminated with high
concentration of nitrates, possibly arising from excessive usage of fertilizers, reaching to values as high as 300
mg/L. In order to tackle this problem, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) techniques are being applied at demon-
stration scale to improve groundwater quality through aquifer recharge, in both infiltration basins at the river bed
of ephemeral river Rio Seco and existing traditional large diameter wells located in this aquifer. In order to assess
the infiltration capacity of the existing infrastructures, in particular infiltration basins and large diameter wells at
CF aquifer, infiltration tests were performed, indicating a high infiltration capacity of the existing infrastructures.
Concerning the sources of water for recharge, harvested rainwater at greenhouses was identified in CF aquifer
area as one of the main potential sources for aquifer recharge, once there is a large surface area occupied by these
infrastructures at the demo site. This potential source of water could, in some cases, be redirected to the large diam-
eter wells or to the infiltration basins at the riverbed of Rio Seco. Estimates of rainwater harvested at greenhouses
were calculated based on a 32 year average rainfall model and on the location of the greenhouses and their surface
areas, the latter based on aerial photograph. Potential estimated annual rainwater intercepted by greenhouses at
CF aquifer accounts an average of 1.63 hm3/year. Nonetheless it is unlikely that the totality of this amount can
be harvested, collected and redirected to aquifer recharge infrastructures, for several reasons, such as the lack of
appropriate greenhouse infrastructures, conduits or a close location between greenhouses and large diameter wells
and infiltration basins. Anyway, this value is a good indication of the total amount of the harvested rainfall that
could be considered for future MAR solutions. Given the estimates on the greenhouse harvested rainwater and
the infiltration capacity of the infiltration basins and large diameter wells, it is intended to develop groundwater
flow models in order to assess the nitrate washing rate in the CF aquifer. This work is being developed under the
scope of MARSOL Project (MARSOL-GA-2013-619120), in which Campina de Faro aquifer system is one of the
several case studies. This project aims to demonstrate that MAR is a sound, safe and sustainable strategy that can
be applied with great confidence in finding solutions to water scarcity in Southern Europe.


https://sapientia.ualg.pt/bitstream/10400.1/10324/1/Estimating%20Harvested%20Rainwater%20at%20Greenhouses.pdf

Estimating harvested rainwater at greenhouses in south Portugal aquifer Campina de Faro for potential infiltration in Managed Aquifer Recharge

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