Linking local natural background levels in groundwater to their generating hydrogeochemical processes in Quaternary alluvial aquifers

A pipeline for monitoring water pollution: The example of heavy metals in Lombardy waters

“…The release of reduced species such as As, Fe and Mn in groundwater through natural processes is mainly due to reductive dissolution mechanisms [21] driven by organic matter degradation [23] . In areas affected by these kinds of processes, which is the case of the Lombardy region in Northern Italy, species such as Fe, As and Mn can naturally reach groundwater concentrations higher than threshold values for groundwater quality assessment and potability [24] , which constitutes a major issue for water management and potabilization.…”

Tracing environmental changes according to the spatiotemporal variability of the hydrogeochemical background of springs: a case of Lithuania

“…Nevertheless, the quality of Europe's groundwater resources has been under pressure from numerous anthropogenic activities exacerbated by climate change in recent decades (Barbieri et al 2021;EEA 2019;McDonough et al 2020;Lapworth et al 2022;Lanini et al 2021). Despite the efforts of the researchers, it is challenging to elucidate hydrogeochemistry variation trends linked to anthropogenic activity from natural trends in groundwater are challenging (Frollini et al 2021; Szczucińska 2016; Zanotti et al 2022). Therefore the qualitative status of groundwater is greatly underestimated (Huang et al 2022).…”

“…Furthermore, the limits should be evaluated according to the vulnerability of the groundwater of a particular region (Zanotti et Zanotti et al 2022). However, according to the review studies by Preziosi et al 2021, it is not yet possible to recommend a reliable method for determining NBLs and their variations that would be robust enough to be applied in most hydrogeological settings across Europe.…”

“…Moreover, the intensity of these processes is closely related to the hydrological, geological, hydrogeological and soil properties controlling the vulnerability of particular aquifers (Chidambaram et al 2011;Li et al 2015;Sappa et al 2014;Vishwakarma et al 2018). However, the hypothesis raised by the authors of previous studies about the effects of natural processes on the spatiotemporal variability of NBL in research is often based on theoretical assumptions (Gao et There is a shortage of in-depth quantitative research on the effects of natural processes on NBL (Zanotti et al 2022) Potable water resources in Lithuania are extracted only from groundwater. The groundwater resources available in Lithuania are estimated at over 3.75 million m 3 per day, which is about six times more than the current (2011-2019 period) water extraction for centralised drinking water supply (LGS 2020).…”

Combining hydrogeochemistry, statistics and explorative mapping to estimate regional threshold values of trace elements in groundwater (Sardinia, Italy)

“…The best method of defining the geochemical baseline and the related threshold value is a matter of much discussion, and several approaches have been proposed (e.g. : Matschullat et al, 2000;Lee and Helsel, 2005;Reimann et al, 2005;Nordstrom, 2015;ISPRA, 2018;Reimann et al, 2018;Parrone et al, 2019;Zanotti et al, 2022). Methods include the calculation of percentiles of a given dataset (e.g.…”