Apulian groundwater (Southern Italy) salt pollution monitoring network

Abstract

The hydrogeological Apulian units are of coastal type and are mainly carbonate rocks of Mesozoic age. The rapid socio-economic growth, which has occurred in the past decades, has lead to different hazardous conditions in connection with groundwater quality. Groundwater for domestic, irrigation and industrial uses has been withdrawn in large quantities over the years; the aquifers are also increasingly becoming the ultimate "receptacle" for domestic and industrial wastewater. In order to characterise the evolutionary features of increasing saline and human-related pollution, data was gathered by a regionally based continuously operating hydrogeological monitoring network. It uses more than 100 wells, some of which are hundreds of meters deep, equipped with multiparameter sensors, temperature, conductivity and level gauges set up along the vertical axis and connected to a geo-information system. Water samples are periodically taken from the wells, the samples are analysed by chemical, physical and bacteriological parameters with the aim of detecting any farming and industrial pollutants. The new system, which provides real-time information for groundwater planning, scheduling and management, is described together with some preliminary results. The impact of seawater intrusion on water quality at regional level is also discussed.