PROTECTING AND PRESERVING
GROUND WATER
with
MONITORING SYSTEMS and
VULNERABILITY MAPS
PAPATHEODOROU Konstantinos, Assoc. Professor1
EVANGELIDIS Konstantinos, Lecturer1
1Geomatics
& Surveying Dept., Technological Educational
Institute of Serres, Greece
Introduction
 GROUNDWATER:
a VITAL resource!
 GROUNDWATER protection & Management:
is a CRITICAL procedure for Sustainable Development
Involving:
 the Preservation of QUALITY,
 the Preservation of QUANTITY and
 The ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT assessment of it’s use
2
Ground Water resources protection
CONSERVATION & ENHANCEMENT of GroundWater
resources can be achieved through :
 Land Care
 GW Management
 GW Recharge Preservation
In any case, when trying to “protect and preserve” the
central idea must be ….
PREVENTION
(instead of disaster/pollution management)
3
Scope
 To highlight the possibilities offered by
contemporary technologies such as Remote Sensing
and Geographic Information Systems in Ground
Water protection and management…
 By assessing groundwater vulnerability which
can be considered as one of it’s sustainability
indicators
 By displaying the potential uses of an integrated
Ground Water Information System
4
Delineating Recharge Areas (1/2)
Location
False Color Composites
& Band Ratios
Fracture pattern and density
PC2-4/7-3/1
PC2-4/7-4/3
TM5/7-4/5-3/1
TM4/7-4/3-4/6
TM4/3-5/7-4/5
Band Ratios & False Color Composites used to:
Map the Geology
Trace Faults
Lineament Orientation analysis
5
Delineating Recharge Areas
Recharge area delineation
Additional Hydrochemical Data used
Lineament
Density
Ion Ratio indicating
groundwater
residence time in
the aquifer:
[Ca+Mg] / [Na + K ]
Ion Ratio
indicating
groundwater
origin through
Mg-rich
formations:
Mg/Ca > 1.0
Fractures
Recharge
Area
delineation
Ion Ratio
spatial
distribution
6
GW Vulnerability assessment (1/2)
D
R
A
S
T
I
C
Depth to Recharge
Impact of Hydraulic
Aquifer Media
groundwater
Topography
Soil Media
Rate
Vadose zone
Conductivity
Rainfall: 25 years
Geologic maps (scale 1:50,000)
260 sampling points Bore logs
/53 stations
Mean Annual
Infiltration (mm)
Mean Annual
Rainfall (mm)
Effective
Infiltration (%)
X
=
7
GW Vulnerability assessment (1/2)
Installations/Activities plotted against
Ground Water Vulnerability
Ground Water Vulnerability as
compared to NO3 concentration
Reliability
Check
Use…
LANDUSE
to
estimate
RISK
8
Ground Water Information System
A system that can be used to protect groundwater and to support
decisions for Ground Water sustainable management
GWIS concept design
The proposed system presents a
typical Multi-TIER Architecture
System Tiers:
 Data Collection Layer
 Data Services/Applications Layer
 DataBases
 Application & Data Access
code
 User Access control & Content
Management
 Presentation Layer
Data Collection
Layer
Ground Water Field Equipment Devices
Telecommunication Infrastructure (TCP/IP over GSM)
Servlet
Engine
Web
Server
Application
Server
Connectors
Spatial
Server
Internet
Map
Server
Spatial Data
Engine
GWIS
Geographic
(Spatial)
Database
Server
Ground Water
Simulation
Models
Web – GIS
Application
Database &
Assisting Software
Services
Data /
Services/
Application
Layer
Application &
Data Access Code
Telecommunication Infrastructure (Internet)
User Access Control &
Content Management
Content Management System
Telecommunication Infrastructure (Internet)
Custom
Client
Applications
Group 1
Custom
Client
Applications
Group 2
Presentation
Layer
9
Ground Water Information System
Data input through Web
services
Data (information) layers shown
MONITORING STATION HOUSED
ONLINE REAL-TIME TELECONTROLED
SPECTROPHOTOMETERS
Early Warning System
In RED color the sampling points where the specified
threshold value for a specified parameter was exceeded. 10
GWIS characteristics
 Groundwater quantity and/or quality related parameters, can be constantly (or
selectively) measured and data can be instantly transferred, stored and made
readily available.
 The system is capable to adapt to site specific conditions and local regulations
and to maximise cost-effectiveness without compromising program and data
quality
 Ion or Contaminant concentrations that are above set thresholds can be
tracked and contaminant trends can be identified.
 Remedial measure performance can be evaluated.
 Regulators can have access to data and maps in real time, estimate future
trends and make decisions
 Public awareness can be greatly enhanced by providing information and
guidelines over the Web so the public can be transformed from “part of the
problem” to “part of the solution”
11
Conclusions

Remote Sensing Techniques combined with the use of Geographic
Information Systems over the Web can provide accurate and
reliable information regarding groundwater protection and
management at minimal costs.

Pollution Hazard Preventive measures
 Can be based on
vulnerability assessment models and
methods,
 can provide reliable results and help make decisions regarding
the regulatory framework and the land use planning on a
regional scale

The use of a Ground Water Information System integrating the
above technologies can greatly help both as a Decision Support
AND as an Early Warning System for groundwater protection and
management.
12
The Problems we have to face
from a Cross-Border Perspective
There is an ongoing effort to reduce the impact pollution Hazards
can have on people and on the environment.
Problems & Drawbacks
 Lack of RELIABLE information
 The COST of required DATA
 Lack of SYSTEMATIC pollution hazard assessment
 Lack of a “common census” in terms of Methodologies and
Procedures adapted so that results can be comparable
…and regarding the local administration (only a couple of…)


Not imposed LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Lack of PUBLIC AWARENESS
13
…suggestions on How to Solve them
Responce
Key elements for Pollution Hazard mitigation, especially by
taking Preventive measures, are:
 Pollution Hazard Identification
 Risk assessment and
 Applied Research and Technology transfer
And to achieve those targets we need
 A common census on Methodologies used/adapted
 Selection of the appropriate Methodology (–ies) by a
review-compare-select-pilot implement procedure
 Data homogenization
 Data standardization according to the selected data
14
model
PROTECTING AND PRESERVING
GROUND WATER
with
MONITORING SYSTEMS and
VULNERABILITY MAPS
THANK YOU!
PAPATHEODOROU Konstantinos, Assoc. Professor1
EVANGELIDIS Konstantinos, Lecturer1
1Geomatics
& Surveying Dept., Technological Educational
Institute of Serres, Greece