Risk of groundwater contamination widely underestimated because of fast flow into aquifers

Author

Andreas Hartmann
Scott Jasechko
Tom Gleeson
Yoshihide Wada
Bartolomé Andreo
Juan Antonio Barberá
Heike Brielmann
Lhoussaine Bouchaou
Jean-Baptiste Charlier
W. George Darling
Maria Filippini
Jakob Garvelmann
Nico Goldscheider
Martin Kralik
Harald Kunstmann
Bernard Ladouche
Jens Lange
Giorgia Lucianetti
José Francisco Martín
Matías Mudarra
Damián Sánchez
Christine Stumpp, Institute for Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria;
Eleni Zagana, Laboratory of Hydrogeology, Department of Geology, University of Patras, 26500 Rion Patras, Greece;
Thorsten Wagener, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, BS8 1TR, Bristol, United Kingdom;; Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, BS8 1UH, Bristol, United Kingdom;; Institute for Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, D-14476, Potsdam, Germany

Files

Publication Date

5-18-2021

Publication Title

PNAS

Volume Number

118

Issue Number

20

Abstract

Significance Clean groundwater is essential for water supply in many regions of the world. Fast flow to the groundwater through enlarged cracks and fissures, which is known to transmit short-lived pollutants into the groundwater, is often neglected in large-scale studies. We quantify the rapid transport of pollutants by fast flow into the carbonate rock groundwater storage in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. We show that, through rapid transport, up to 50% of infiltrating pollutants may still reach the groundwater table, which is substantially more than estimated when fast transport is neglected. These results imply that the contamination risk of usable groundwater storages is much larger than expected where fast flow to the groundwater occurs.

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024492118

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Hartmann, Andreas; Jasechko, Scott; Gleeson, Tom; Wada, Yoshihide; Andreo, Bartolomé; Barberá, Juan Antonio; Brielmann, Heike; Bouchaou, Lhoussaine; Charlier, Jean-Baptiste; Darling, W. George; Filippini, Maria; Garvelmann, Jakob; Goldscheider, Nico; Kralik, Martin; Kunstmann, Harald; Ladouche, Bernard; Lange, Jens; Lucianetti, Giorgia; Martín, José Francisco; Mudarra, Matías; Sánchez, Damián; Stumpp, Christine; Zagana, Eleni; and Wagener, Thorsten, "Risk of groundwater contamination widely underestimated because of fast flow into aquifers" (2021). KIP Articles. 9000.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/9000