Groundwater contamination from point sources. A hazard index to protect water supply wells in intermediate cities

• Published in: Groundwater for sustainable development Vol. 10; p. 100363
• Main Authors: Barilari, Agustina, Quiroz Londoño, Mauricio, Paris, Marta del Carmen, Lima, María Lourdes, Massone, Héctor E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Argentina; Groundwater contamination; Groundwater management; Intermediate cities; Point sources; Groundwater contamination; Groundwater management; Point sources; Argentina; Intermediate cities
• ISSN: 2352-801X; 2352-801X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100363

Fresh water is of vital importance and therefore, the availability of water in urban areas has been a priority objective in the world for many years. One of the greatest challenges related to any natural resource management process is to achieve the best possible compatibility between the “ideal” and the “possible” situations. Nowadays, urban water management is a key objective particularly in intermediate cities of developing countries where human and economic resources in governmental agencies are limited. So, it is necessary to count with a tool as simple as possible, in order to allow control efforts to be prioritised. The aim of this paper is to develop a hazard index (HI), in order to identify which point sources of groundwater contamination need to be more frequently controlled and to recognise public supply wells that may be threatened. This index was applied in Mar del Plata city, located in the south-east of the Buenos Aires province, Argentina. The HI was defined as a weighted sum of three variables: Potential Contamination Load (PCL), Effluent Disposal mode (ED) and the distance from the point source to groundwater supply wells or Well Protection Areas (WP). HI results for each point source showed that all buried fuel tanks, soil and stone quarries present high HI as well as 2% of the industries. On the other hand, 90% of the inventoried industries and a landfill present the lowest HI values. Some recommendations based on two strategies (mitigation or prevention) are proposed. [Display omitted] •A tool to protect public water supply wells from point sources of contamination is proposed.•This tool is an index to prioritize point sources and wells with greater need of control.•Three variables are involved in a weighted sum: contamination load, effluent disposal mode and distance to supply wells.•The index allows reaching an efficient result in places with multiple land-uses and scarce human and economic resources.