groundwater quality protection · soil in the vadose zone actively attenuates many pollutants esp....
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Groundwater Quality Assessment and Protection
MODULE 5
Groundwater provides a potable water supply for vast population
Often unprotected
Pollution threats are increasing
Contaminants persistent
Why do groundwater merit protection?
Do you have contaminated groundwater supplies? What has been the impact?
What causes degradation in groundwater quality ?
➢Mineralized rocks
➢disease-causing agents: Pathogens
➢Nutrients: Nitrate, phosphate, sulphate
➢organic compounds: hydrocarbons
➢inorganic chemicals: toxic chemicals
➢radioactive substances: Uranium
Sources
Natural: derived from rocks: Fluoride, arsenic, uranium
Man-made: Accidental Spills, Illegal Dumping, industries, agriculture, domestic waste
Why should we worry?
▪ About 54 countries in the world have safe drinking water standards
▪ At least 700 potential pollutants have been found in municipal drinking water supplies.
▪ Of the pollutants tested, 97 cause cancers
▪ There is a limited effort in Africa to comply with water quality standard.
▪ Most African countries failed to meet MDGs.
▪ SDG (target 6) by 2030?
IGRAC
Contaminant load is uncontrolled and exceeds attenuation capacity of the ground.
Soil in the vadose zone actively attenuates many pollutants esp. domestic wastewater, and increases the time available for contaminant elimination processes.
Groundwater pollution affects primarily to shallow aquifers
Sharply-focused pollution control measures can produce major benefits for relatively modest cost.
How do aquifers become polluted?
Rapid urban expansion
Dependence of rural water supply from shallow aquifers
Widespread pollution problems
Poor sanitary infrastructure
Rapid expansion of industry: African industrial revolution
Poor water governance appetite
Chronic problems in Africa
Chemical Spills and Groundwater Pollution
Groundwater Contamination
Point Sources
Single sources on a site like
leakage from fuel tanks
waste water channels,
accidents with chemicals
Diffuse Sources
Diffuse sources, enter the groundwater over a large area
Often originate from a combination of sources.
Eg mining wastes, urban runoff, agriculturalrunoff, or any combination of these.
These sources are difficult to quantify, isolate and control
Open landfill
What are the important sources of groundwater pollution in your country?
Note the path of the chemical spill in the next few slides
Aquifer Risk is a combination of aquifer vulnerability and pollution hazard .
Source: Nkhuwa 2006
Contamination sources not separate from water supply
Lusaka
How to supply potable water
here?
Prevention is better thanCure!
Suggest ways to reduce
waste disposal to the streets and drains
What are the impacts of
this waste on water?
Mining pollution reduces the availability of
freshwater: still it is groundwater
• Acidic pH, toxic water loaded with metals & high in radioactivity
Acid Mine Drainage – Gold Tailings Dump
FeS + H2O + O2 = H2SO4 + Fe2O3
PH = 2.1 => dissolved metals
Emalahleni Water Reclamation Plant
Produces: clean water 25 Ml/day
Cost= R300 million ≈ $20M
Good for Water Security
Public-private participation
Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (N A P L)
LNAPL: Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid:
density < than water
DNAPL: Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid: density > than water
Non-aqueous phase liquid contamination
In coastal areas a natural balance exists between salt and freshwater; if over-pumped, salt water up-coning occurs, with mixing fresh and sea water. This is irreversible.
fresh groundwater
ground surface
saline groundwater
sea
phreatic water table
zone of diffusion
impervious layer
Actions to reduce the
incidence of saline water
intrusion?
Pollution pathways by sanitation
Identify management
actions that can be taken here to
reduce contamination
www.wateraid.org/images/cm_images/pump-web.jpgwww.ualberta.ca/~xcle/img/pump.jpg
Groundwater pollution hazard assessment is needed to protect groundwater quality; it should be an essential component of environmental best-practice
Groundwater pollution hazard is the interaction between the aquifer pollution vulnerability and the contaminant load
Aquifer vulnerability is essentially fixed by the natural hydrogeological setting but contaminant load varies
Aquifer pollution vulnerability can be assessed from the hydrogeological characteristics of the overlying material => vulnerability index, which can be mapped
Potential contaminant load can also be mapped and overlaid on the aquifer vulnerability map => groundwater pollution hazard.
How can groundwater pollution hazard be assessed?
DRASTIC map: pollution hazardmapping
DepthRechargeAquiferSoilTopographyImpact vadose zoneConductivity
Intrinsic Vulnerability map, Addis Ababa
1-100 low
100-140 medium
140-200 High
>200 Very high
DI=
South Africa
Well/well field protection
Well spacing, pumping restriction
GW zoning, land use planning/regulation
Agrochemical (fertilizer/pesticide) use regulations
Proper solid waste disposal facilities
Proper sanitation and waste water treatment facilities
Polluter-pay-principle or economic incentives
Monitoring, early warning, trend analysis
Public awareness raising
GW quality protection
Zoning schemes:
Zone I - Immediate Protection Zone
► Protects a well or spring from direct contamination
Zone II - Inner Protection Zone
► Protects the drinking water source against pathogenic
microbiological constituents such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and worm eggs
Zone III - Outer Protection Zone
► Protects against contamination affecting the drinking water
source over long distances (chemical substances which are non-or hardly degradable)
Establishing protection zones will imply landuse restrictions!!!
Protection Zones
GROUNDWATER PROTECTION AREAS (GPA)
GPAs also need:- regulatory embedding
- public awareness- monitoring
designed to provide special vigilance for groundwater destined for public supply
simple powerful concept readily understood by planners:
Sign posts: Ethiopia
Marion County Wellfield: Indianapolis, USA
Georgia, USA
Groundwater Protection from pollution
GW protected from the surface by the unsaturated zone
Acts as a filter removing solid particles
Sediment is not a problem in groundwater
Bacterial contamination is not as common in groundwater.
Groundwater Protection from pollution
In the unsaturated zone chemical changes take place, some of these may degrade pollutants
This is common e.g. biochemical degradation of organic contaminants
Others retard movement of polluting substances by chemical reactions
adsorption or ion exchange
What this implies
• Monitoring has taken place, water chemistry wasknown while fit for use but has changed and is nowunfit for the intended use.
•There is a source of contamination. This could be anatural degradation process, but is more commonlyfrom toxic substances, related to human activities, thatcontaminate groundwater.
There is a pathway or connection from the source tothe water body.
The water can be affected by the source ofcontamination.
Prevention of Groundwater Pollution
➢legislating adequate controls at wastedisposal sites
➢installing appropriate monitoring andleachate collection structures at suchsites.
➢Education must form part of theprevention campaign
➢Policing of waste sites and illegaldumping manpower is a problem
South Africa
Prevention of Groundwater Pollution
Prevention is better
and cheaper than remediation
pH= 3.9
Ca= 25 mg/L
Mg= 8 mg/L
Na= 150 mg/L
K= 3 mg/L
HCO3= 45 mg/L
SO4= 250 mg/L
Cl=89 mg/L
Cd=2 m/l
U=3.5 mg/l
Group discussion on water quality
pH= 8.5
Ca= 25o mg/L
Mg= 18 mg/L
Na= 15 mg/L
K= 6 mg/L
HCO3= 45 mg/L
SO4= 125 mg/L
Cl=450 mg/L
NO3= 102 mg/L
pH= 7.7
Ca= 25 mg/L
Mg= 8 mg/L
Na= 50 mg/L
K= 4 mg/L
HCO3= 45 mg/L
SO4= 55 mg/L
Cl=35 mg/L
F=5mg/L
Aquifer 1 TDS=570mg/l Aquifer 3 TDS=227 mg/lAquifer 2 TDS=1011mg/l
Discuss the causes for variation in groundwater quality
THANK YOU
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