scholarly journals Assessing Natural Background Levels in the Groundwater Bodies of the Apulia Region (Southern Italy)

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 958
Author(s):  
Rita Masciale ◽  
Stefano Amalfitano ◽  
Eleonora Frollini ◽  
Stefano Ghergo ◽  
Marco Melita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Apulia Region ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
Geochemical Parameters ◽  
Iron Manganese

Defining natural background levels (NBL) of geochemical parameters in groundwater is a key element for establishing threshold values and assessing the environmental state of groundwater bodies (GWBs). In the Apulia region (Italy), carbonate sequences and clastic sediments host the 29 regional GWBs. In this study, we applied the Italian guidelines for the assessment of the NBLs, implementing the EU Water Framework Directive, in a south-European region characterized by the typical Mediterranean climatic and hydrologic features. Inorganic compounds were analyzed at GWB scale using groundwater quality data measured half-yearly from 1995 to 2018 in the regional groundwater monitoring network (341 wells and 20 springs). Nitrates, chloride, sulfate, boron, iron, manganese and sporadically fluorides, boron, selenium, arsenic, exceed the national standards, likely due to salt contamination along the coast, agricultural practices or natural reasons. Monitoring sites impacted by evident anthropic activities were excluded from the dataset prior to NBL calculation using a web-based software tool implemented to automate the procedure. The NBLs resulted larger than the law limits for iron, manganese, chlorides, and sulfates. This methodology is suitable to be applied in Mediterranean coastal areas with high anthropic impact and overexploitation of groundwater for agricultural needs. The NBL definition can be considered one of the pillars for sustainable and long-term groundwater management by tracing a clear boundary between natural and anthropic impacts.

The VIOLA Project: Natural background levels for the groundwater bodies of Apulia Region (Southern Italy)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Masciale ◽  
Stefano Amalfitano ◽  
Eleonora Frollini ◽  
Stefano Ghergo ◽  
Marco Melita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Apulia Region ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
Sampling Procedures

<p>The European Water Directives (WDs, 2000/60/EC; 2006/118/EC) force Member States to proceed to the characterization of groundwater bodies in order to define their quantitative and chemical status and their environmental objectives. Since the earlier years of this century, the Department of Water Resources Management of the Apulia Region implemented the WDs by setting a wide groundwater monitoring network, delineating regional groundwater bodies and characterizing their status. The groundwater bodies characterization showed that the risk of not achieving a good status was generally related to salt contamination and the exceedance of the threshold values or the quality standards for some parameters (e.g., NO<sub>3</sub>, Fe, Mn), as expected for regions with a predominantly agricultural vocation and characterized by extensive coastal development. The main regional aquifers reside in the carbonate bedrock characterized by intense fracturing and karstification.</p><p>The groundwater Directive 2006/118/EC allows the evaluation of Natural Background Levels (NBLs) to be taken into account when establishing the relevant threshold values.</p><p>During the last years, the IRSA-CNR collaborated with the National Environmental Protection Agency (ISPRA) in defining scientifically based guidelines for the NBLs assessment and clarifying some methodological aspects. These guidelines suggest excluding water samples characterised by high levels of specific markers clearly indicating anthropogenic inputs.</p><p>The project "VIOLA - Natural background levels for the groundwater bodies of Apulia Region ", has been funded by the Department of Water Resources Management of the Apulia Region for carrying out the application and validation of the above mentioned methodologies and to develop and test methodologies better tailored for coastal aquifers. In particular, isotopic techniques will be used to discriminate between the anthropogenic and natural origin of the salinization and historical data of groundwater salinization will be processed in order to study its evolution in time. . Finally, the investigation of innovative microbiological techniques is envisaged to evaluate how changes in groundwater quality will affect the resident microbial community properties involved in C-flux.</p><p>The VIOLA project will last three years during which the IRSA-CNR will:</p><ul><li>collect and order all the background knowledge relating to the hydro-geo-chemical characteristics of the Apulian groundwater bodies,</li> <li>define adequate groundwater sampling procedures and assessment protocols for the NBLs,</li> <li>carry out field activities, aimed at sampling groundwater at a specific monitoring network and measuring values of main physico-chemical and microbiological parameters, in the study area of the coastal Murgia groundwater body, and</li> <li>produce tools to support the planning and management of groundwater resources integrated in a GIS environment.</li> </ul><p>This contribution aims at providing an overview at the ongoing activities at the regional scale, illustrating the groundwater bodies setting, the main pressures and the preliminary derivation of NBL using the historical data.</p>

scholarly journals eNaBLe, an On-Line Tool to Evaluate Natural Background Levels in Groundwater Bodies

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Daniele Parrone ◽  
Eleonora Frollini ◽  
Elisabetta Preziosi ◽  
Stefano Ghergo
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Selection Method ◽  
Database Management System ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
On Line ◽  
Groundwater Body

Inorganic compounds in groundwater may derive from both natural processes and anthropogenic activities. The assessment of natural background levels (NBLs) is often useful to distinguish these sources. The approaches for the NBLs assessment can be classified as geochemical (e.g., the well-known pre-selection method) or statistical, the latter involving the application of statistical procedures to separate natural and anthropogenic populations. National Guidelines for the NBLs assessment in groundwater have been published in Italy (ISPRA 155/2017), based mainly on the pre-selection method. The Guidelines propose different assessment paths according to the sample size in spatial/temporal dimension and the type of the distribution of the pre-selected dataset, taking also into account the redox conditions of the groundwater body. The obtained NBLs are labelled with a different confidence level in function of number of total observations/monitoring sites, extension of groundwater body and aquifer type (confined or unconfined). To support the implementation of the Guidelines, the on-line tool evaluation of natural background levels (eNaBLe), written in PHP and using MySQL as DBMS (DataBase Management System), has been developed. The main goal of this paper is to describe the functioning of eNaBLe and test the tool on a case study in central Italy. We calculated the NBLs of As, F, Fe and Mn in the southern portion of the Mounts Vulsini groundwater body, within the volcanic province of Latium (Central Italy), also separating the reducing and oxidizing facies. Specific results aside, this study allowed to verify the functioning and possible improvements of the online tool and to identify some criticalities in the procedure NBLs assessment at the groundwater body scale

scholarly journals Local natural background levels assessment through a groundwater redox zonation, the case of Lombardy Region.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Rotiroti ◽  
Mariachiara Caschetto ◽  
Chiara Zanotti ◽  
Marco Parini ◽  
Giuseppa Cipriano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Redox Species ◽  
Po Plain ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Alpine Valley ◽  
Lombardy Region ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
Redox Zonation

<p>Discretizing anthropogenic and natural contaminations represents a crucial step in groundwater management and regulation. Natural background levels (NBLs) have a huge impact on groundwater protections and remediation strategies, but it is still an issue on the ground in terms of reliability and accuracy, thus its derivation needs further scientific efforts.</p><p>The derivation of local NBLs (LNBLs) is intended to overcome the limitation of considering a groundwater body (GWB) homogeneous, hence accounting hydrogeochemical heterogeneities within the aquifer system.</p><p>This work presents a statistical approach assessing LNBLs for sensitive redox species (As, Fe, Mn, NH<sub>4</sub>) in 30 GWBs within the Lombardy Region. Under the monitoring network of the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection of Lombardy (ARPA), more than 500 wells were investigated, thus each GWBs were identified within 4 aquifer types: shallow, intermediate, deep Po Plain aquifers and Alpine valley aquifers. The initial dataset underwent preselection and multivariate analyses, appointing at each well a geogenic redox zonation. It leaded to discretize geochemically-homogeneous subgroups and characterize them as function of site-specific natural facies: oxidised (293 wells), reduced (199 wells) and saline (11 wells). Interquartile range criteria, validations’ tests (Mann-Kendall and Shapiro-Wilk), probability density histograms and probability plots inferred temporally and spatially the datasets, one for each target species, discretized for aquifer and natural facies appartenances. This resulted in the identification of the statistical distributions from redox-homogeneous sets of data from which the LNBLs were derived.</p><p>Considering the Po Plain aquifer (shallow, intermediate and deep), NBLs derivation for As revealed three subgroups within the oxidised facies, for which the NBLs values are of 2, 3 and 7 μg/L, four subgroups ascribe to the reduced facies with NBLs of 13, 49, 71 and 291 μg/L, and two subgroups for the saline facies with NBLs of 3 and 12 μg/L. According Fe, two are the subgroups within the oxidised facies, with NBLs of 40 and 94 μg/L, four subgroups fall in the reduced facies with NBLs of 653, 1430, 3200 and 6000 μg/L; within the saline facies, two subgroups are identified with NBLs of 1647 and 6000 μg/L. Two subgroups characterize the oxidised facies for NBLs of Mn with values of 8 and 27 μg/L, and NBLs of 34, 216, 485, 912 and 1514 μg/L refer to five subgroups in reduced facies, while within the saline facies fall two subgroups with NBLs of 381 and 921 μg/L. With regards to NH<sub>4</sub>, NBLs reach values of 49, 110 and 190 μg/L for the three subgroups within the oxidised facies, whereas values of 834, 2600, 3090, 4480 μg/L are derived for the four subgroups in the reduced facies; the two subgroups ascribed to the saline facies reveal NBLs of 1860 and 6620 μg/L.</p><p>Data demonstrate how an in depth understanding of aquifers’ redox-zonations turned out to be functional for assessing LNBLs. Regional Legislation (D.G.R. 23novembre2020 n.3903) has been amended on the basis of the outcomes of this work, revealing site redox-specific LNBLs of practical significance.</p><p> </p><p>Funding: this work was granted and carried out in collaboration with Lombardy Region.</p>

Combining natural background levels (NBLs) assessment with indicator kriging analysis to improve groundwater quality data interpretation and management

2016 ◽  
Vol 569-570 ◽  
pp. 569-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Ducci ◽  
M. Teresa Condesso de Melo ◽  
Elisabetta Preziosi ◽  
Mariangela Sellerino ◽  
Daniele Parrone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Indicator Kriging ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
Kriging Analysis

scholarly journals Natural Background Levels in Groundwater

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2770
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Preziosi ◽  
Marco Rotiroti ◽  
M. Teresa Condesso de Melo ◽  
Klaus Hinsby
Keyword(s):  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
Significant Problem ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
The World

High levels of inorganic compounds in groundwater represent a significant problem in many parts of the world, with major economic, social and environmental drawbacks [...]

scholarly journals Measurement of the 36Cl deposition flux in central Japan: natural background levels and seasonal variability

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Tosaki ◽  
Norio Tase ◽  
Kimikazu Sasa ◽  
Tsutomu Takahashi ◽  
Yasuo Nagashima
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Deposition Flux ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Central Japan ◽  
Background Levels

Natural background levels and threshold values for groundwater in fluvial Pleistocene and Tertiary marine aquifers in Flanders, Belgium

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 1155-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen Coetsiers ◽  
Petra Blaser ◽  
Kristine Martens ◽  
Kristine Walraevens
Keyword(s):  
Threshold Values ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Background Levels

Comparing methods to estimate chloride natural background levels to assess sea water intrusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pulido-Velazquez ◽  
Leticia Baena-Ruiz ◽  
Denitza Voutchkova ◽  
Birgitte Hansen ◽  
Klaus Hinsby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Salt Water Intrusion ◽  
Natural Background ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Water Intrusion ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Perform Sensitivity Analysis

<p>In order to assess the anthropogenic impacts on groundwater quality we generally need to identify the natural conditions or Natural background levels (NBLs) within groundwater systems, which are used as references to assess the evolution of the contamination status. This information, in addition to the threshold values (TVs), which are derived from NBLs and based on specific criteria values for legitimate water uses and the environment (terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems), is required to appropriately assess of the chemical status of groundwater in accordance with the European Water Framework Directive and to analyse and propose potential measures where they are required.</p><p>In literature, different methodologies are available to assess NBLs and reference TVs for different geochemical substances based on the available measurements of groundwater salinity (e.g. based on probability plots). In this work we analyze and compare three previously proposed methods for derivation of chloride NBLs, which is a conservation solute and is closely related to salt water intrusion in inland and coastal aquifers. We discuss and compare their applicability in pilots located in different settings (southern /northern European / Mediteranean/ North Sea /Baltic Sea) covering different typologies (detrital, karstic, fissured aquifers) and management issues (overexploitation, land use and land cover changes, etc). We perform sensitivity analysis to different constraints applied to remove samples affected by human activity (Nitrate and the brackish saline constraints) in the assessment of NBLs. Finally, based on this analysis, we propose a general approach for derivation of NBLs that could be applied to any of the tested pilots as well as other similar settings in Europe.</p><p> </p><p>This research has been partially supported by the SIGLO-AN project (RTI2018-101397-B-I00) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Programa Estatal de I+D+I orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad).</p><p>This work has been partially supported by the GeoE.171.008-TACTIC and GeoE.171.008-HOVER projects from GeoERA organization funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.</p>

Basin-Scale, Real-Time Salinity Management Using Telemetered Sensor Networks and Model-Based Salt Assimilative Capacity Forecasts

2016 ◽  
pp. 193-220
Author(s):  
Nigel W.T. Quinn ◽  
Roberta Tassey ◽  
Jun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Data Quality Management ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Web Access ◽  
State Water ◽  
Salinity Management

This chapter describes a new approach to environmental decision support for salinity management in the San Joaquin Basin that focuses on Web-based data sharing using tools such as YSI Econet and continuous data quality management using an enterprise-level software tool WISKI. These tools offer real-time Web-access to sensor data as well as providing the owner full control over the way the data is visualized. The same websites use GIS to superimpose the monitoring site locations on maps of local hydrography and allow point and click access to the data collected at each environmental monitoring site. This information technology suite of software and hardware work together with a watershed simulation model WARMF-SJR to provide timely, reliable, and high quality data and forecasts of river salinity that can used by stakeholder decision makers to ensure compliance with state water quality objectives.

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