Assessing the Karst Groundwater Quality and Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of a Prominent Dolomite Aquifer in Guizhou, China

Abstract

Karst groundwater is one of the primary water resources in most provinces of Southwestern China where karst topography is strongly featured. In Guizhou Province, a prominent geologic sedimentary formation is the dolomite stratum which exists as the restricted platform facies and potentially provides a large reservoir for drinking water. A proper understanding and evaluation of its hydrogeochemical characteristics and water quality is the key to ensuring the drinking water safety. In the present study, groundwater samples were collected from 25 locations of the dolomite aquifer across Guizhou to determine their major chemical compounds, including the cations (K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+) and the anions (HCO3−, F−, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−), as well as the pH, total hardness, and total dissolved solids. HCO3− and Ca2+ were found to be the dominant anion and cation, respectively, which is characteristic of typical karst groundwater and supports the overall observation of a slightly weak acid to weak alkaline environment in the studied groundwater, as the pH measurements ranged from 6.80 to 8.37. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to evaluate the groundwater quality based on typical drinking water safety standard. The results show that the groundwater in most of the studied aquifers is of reasonably good quality. However, in some aquifers, concentrations of NO3− and/or SO42− were found to be excessively high. Overall, the studied dolomite aquifer in its natural environment as investigated in the present study can be considered as a potential geological stratum for water resources exploitation in Guizhou.

Water Quality and Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of Some Karst Water Sources in Apuseni Mountains, Romania

“…Excessive water abstraction, agriculture, animal husbandry and unsustainable household practices are the main stressors of the groundwater flows [9]. Overall, the chemical profile of groundwater is regulated by the water-rock interaction, ion exchange, weathering, geological structure, rock type, flow trajectory, residence time, agriculture, industry and urbanization [1,9,10]. Major chemical characteristics of the karst groundwater include the pH, total hardness, total dissolved solids, cations (K, Na, Ca, Mg) and anions (HCO 3 − , F − , Cl − , NO 3 − , SO 4 2− ).…”

Hydrogeochemical and Hydrodynamic Assessment of Tirnavos Basin, Central Greece

“…The results of the FA (Table 1) identified five (5) factors that define the hydrogeochemical regime and explained 83.3% of the total variance. The first factor (F1) accounted for the 32.8% of total variance and denoted the cumulative effect of groundwater salinization by variable sources.…”

“…Essentially, hydrogeochemical and hydrodynamic information needs to be dealt with holistically, with special emphasis put on their interactions. The methodological approach of the present work dictated the synergetic and combinational consideration of various tools and methods, e.g., classic hydrogeochemical approaches, the use of bivariate plots and/or molar ratios [2][3][4][5][6], hydrodynamic characterizations [7][8][9], hydrogeochemical modelling [10][11][12], multivariate statistics [13][14][15][16][17][18] and environmental isotopes [19][20][21][22][23].…”

Health Risk Assessment in Southern Carpathians Small Rural Communities Using Karst Springs as a Drinking Water Source

“…Access to water with appropriate quality is a worldwide priority, as it is crucial for human health, as well as for economic and social development [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Groundwater is an important source of excellent quality water, albeit vulnerable to both depletion and degradation.…”

“…Karst areas hold important sources of drinking water all over the world, as they can store large volumes of water [ 2 , 6 ]. Karst aquifers exhibit more complex behavior than other aquifers and are highly vulnerable to pollution, especially by infiltrations of agricultural or sewage runoff [ 2 , 3 ]. The rapid movement of water from the surface to underground and the short water retention time allows for the easy transfer of pollutants and favors the alteration of the water quality [ 2 ].…”