Assessment of groundwater quality and remediation in karst aquifers: A review

Abstract

Karst aquifers, capable of storing and transmitting large amount of water, are the main source of drinking water in many regions worldwide. Their excessive permeability leads to an enhanced vulnerability to retain and spread the contamination accordingly. From sustainability perspective, the environmental, economic and social impacts of karst contamination on water resources management are gaining more attention. In this study, an overview of hydrogeological processes and concepts regarding groundwater flow and contaminant transport in karstic systems is presented, followed by a short discussion on surface water and groundwater interaction. Due to the complexity of karstic systems, different approaches have been developed by researchers for investigating and understanding hydrogeological processes and groundwater behavior in karst which are reviewed herein. Additionally, groundwater contamination issues and the most common and effective remediation techniques in karstic terrains are discussed. Lastly, modeling techniques and remote sensing methods, as beneficial and powerful tools for assessing groundwater flow and contaminant transport in karst terrains, are reviewed and evaluated. In each section, relevant research works conducted for Puerto Rico are discussed and some recommendations are presented to complement the ongoing hydrogeological investigations on this island.

Groundwater Recharge Potential for Sustainable Water Use in Urban Areas of the Jequitiba River Basin, Brazil

“…These include leakages from water supply network and storm water drainage systems, and were reported to be 10 times greater than the natural recharge in a study in the city of Hyderabad, India [125]. Besides the implications for groundwater resource evaluations, the urban recharge issue is relevant for water quality management because the aforementioned leakages may contain contaminants such as metals or hydrocarbons [126][127][128][129][130][131], as well as for the geotechnical management of the territory because concentrated infiltration through storm water drainage systems can lead to suffosional sinkhole development in karst areas [132]. Urban and water planners should be made aware of these issues and work together to avoid aquifer recharge through storm water drainage systems, especially in the Sete Lagoas town that is laid over a karst.…”

Water Quality Analysis and Modeling of the Al-Rawdhatain Field, Kuwait

“…Generally, the groundwater exhibits an oversaturation with respect to calcite and dolomite and undersaturation with respect to anhydrite, gypsum and halite. The PCO 2 ranges between 3.95 and 5.65×10 -3 atm which is greater than the PCO 2 of the Earth's atmosphere (10 -3.5 atm); this might indicate that the groundwater was charged with CO 2 during the infiltrating process through the soil zone, representing a deep closed environmental system (Appelo and Postma, 1994;Stigter et al, 1998;Hadi and Al-Ruwaih, 2005;Kalhor et al, 2018).…”

Characteristics, Distribution, and Source Analysis of the Main Persistent Toxic Substances in Karst Groundwater at Jinan in North China

“…e unique hydrogeological conditions make the groundwater quality in the karst area more sensitive to human activities [14,15]. Persistent toxic substances have caused different degrees of karst water pollution in the karst distribution areas of the world, such as toxic heavy metals in the karst area of southern China [16][17][18][19] and persistent organic substances in Italy [20], Turkey [21], China [22,23], etc.…”