Apulian groundwater (Southern Italy) salt-pollution monitoring network
Cotecchia, V.; Polemio, M. (1999). Apulian groundwater (Southern Italy) salt-pollution monitoring network. Natuurwet. Tijdschr. 79(1-4): 197-204 In: Natuurwetenschappelijk Tijdschrift. L. Walschot/Natuur- en Geneeskundige Vennootschap: Gent. ISSN 0770-1748, more Also appears in:De Breuck, W.; Walschot, L. (Ed.) (1999). Proceedings of the 15th Salt-Water Intrusion Meeting Ghent (Belgium), 25-29 May 1998. Natuurwetenschappelijk Tijdschrift, 79(1-4). Natuurwetenschappelijk Tijdschrift: Gent. 307 pp., more | |
Keywords | Monitoring > Environmental monitoring > Pollution monitoring Properties > Chemical properties > Salinity Water > Ground water Italy, Puglia [Marine Regions]
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Abstract | The Apulian hydrogeological units are of coastal type and are mainly carbonate rocks of Mesozoic age. The rapid socio-economic growth, which has occurred in the past decades, has led to different hazardous conditions in connection with ground-water quality. Groundwater for domestic, irrigation and industrial uses has been withdrawn in large quantities over the years; the aquifers are also increasingly becoming the ultimate "receptacle" for domestic and industrial waste water. In order to characterize the evolutionary features of increasing saline and human-related pollution, a regionally based continuously operating hydrogeological monitoring network gathered data. It uses more than 100 wells, some of which are hundreds of metres deep, equipped with multiparameter sensors, temperature, conductivity and level gauges set up along the vertical axis and connected to a geo-information system. Water samples are periodically taken from the wells; the samples are analysed by chemical, physical and bacteriological parameters with the aim of detecting any farming and industrial pollutants. The new system, which provides real-time information for groundwater planning, scheduling, and management, is described together with some preliminary results. The impact of sea-water intrusion on water quality at regional level is also discussed. |
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