About Groundwater Contamination
Groundwater Contamination/pollution in our context refers to that quality of groundwater which do not meet the quality standards of groundwater for any purpose set by a legally binding quality assessment agency.
Groundwater is used as source of drinking water for about half of the global population and additionally, about 40% of irrigation requirements are met through groundwater (FAO, 2016). Thus, groundwater is a vita resource and it requires conservation, a quantity issue, and protection, a quality issue. Contaminated sites can be considered to be among the main reasons affecting the quality of groundwater. The table below presents the number of contaminated sites in few EU countries (Prokop et al., 2000).
The more recently updated EU report (EEA, 2019) estimates over 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites in European Economical Area (EEA). Out of which, 342000 sites have been identified as contaminated and only 15% of these (342000 sites) have been remediated. The same EU report considers assessment criteria, methods, costs, major causes behind slow progress in management of contaminated sites. Contaminated sites report from developing countries are mostly not available.
It is clear that for the protection of groundwater resource, the first step is to identify potentially contaminated site, the next step than will be to make a pre-assessment for the potential threat they possess to groundwater. More detailed assessment and decision on remediation methods are subsequent steps.
This site provides tools and methods for pre-assessment of contaminated sites. The provided methods and tools are based on peer-reviewed literature, which are mostly part of academic and research works funded by public agencies. It is to be noted that the authors/host of the sites in any way are not responsible for the results obtained using the tools or methods provided in the site.
References
EEA, 2019. Progress in management of contaminated sites. [online] Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/progress-in-management-of-contaminated-sites-3/assessment/view [Accessed 23 Jun. 2019].
FAO, 2016. Global Diagnostic on Groundwater Governance. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), ISBN: 978-92-5-109259-0.
Prokop, G., Schamann, M., Edelgaard, I., Gentile, A., 2000. Management of contaminated sites in Western Europe, Report Nr. 13/1999, European Environment Agency, ISBN: 92-9167-228-9