TOWARDS A NEW PROCEDURE TO SET UP GROUNDWATER THRESHOLD VALUES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PREVISIONS OF THE EC DIRECTIVE 2006/118: A CASE STUDY FROM ACHAIA AND CORINTHIA (GREECE)

PDF
Published: Jan 25, 2010
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.11352
Keywords:
Greece groundwater natural background level threshold value
P. Christoforidou
A. Panagopoulos
Land Reclamation Institute, National Agricultural Research Foundation
K. Voudouris
Laboratory of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, Department of Geology, Aristotle University
Abstract
The EU Water Framework and Groundwater Directives stipulate that EU member states have to assess groundwater chemical status by the use of groundwater threshold values derived for the protection of dependent ecosystems and human health. In the EU’s 6th FP BRIDGE project ‘‘Background cRiteria for the IDentification of Groundwater thrEsholds’’, a methodology for the derivation of threshold values (TV) for groundwater bodies is proposed. Threshold values are quality standards for polluting substances in groundwater that need to be formulated by the Member States for the status assessment of groundwater bodies. These values represent the concentration of a pollutant that cannot be exceeded in order to protect both the environment and human health. The proposed method derives groundwater threshold values based on environmental objectives for groundwater ”itself” as a receptor, using relevant reference criteria such as natural background levels, drinking and irrigation water standards. This methodology is tested on seven districts in Greece (two of them are analyzed in this paper). Concentrations of major ions, ammonium and data of electrical conductivity were examined. After a pre-selection on databases with groundwater samples the natural background level is determined as the 90- and 97.7 percentile.
Article Details
  • Section
  • Hydrology and Hydrogeology
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Daskalaki P., Voudouris K., 2007. Groundwater quality of porous aquifers in Greece: a synoptic view, Environmental
Geology, 54, 505-513.
Edmunds WM., Shand P., Hart P., Ward RS., 2003. The natural (baseline) quality of groundwater: a UK
pilot study, Sci. Total Environ., 310, 25-35.
EC Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing
a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official J. Eur. Communities L
:1–72.
EC Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the
XLIII, No 4 – 1686
protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration. Official J. Eur. Union, L 372:19–31.
EC Directive 98/83/EC, On the quality of water intended for human consumption, Official Journal of the
European Communities, L 330, 32-54.
Hinsby K., Condesso de Melo MT., 2006. Application and evaluation of a proposed
methodology for derivation of groundwater threshold values: a case study summary report, www.wfdbridge.net.
Griffionen J., Passier H., Klein J., 2008. Comparison of selection methods to deduce natural background
levels for groundwater units, Environ. Sci. Technol., 42, 4863-9.
Koumantakis, J., Panagopoulos, A., Voudouris, K., Stavropoulos, X., 1999. Hydrogeological study of
groundwater artificial recharge of the northern coastal and sub-hilly zone of Corinthia Prefecture.
Final report (in Greek).
Lambrakis, N., Voudouris, K., Tiniakos, L., Kallergis, G., 1997. Impacts of simultaneous action of drought
and overpumping on Quaternary aquifers of Glafkos basin (Patras region, western Greece). Environmental
Geology, 29 (3/4), 209-216.
Müller D., Blum A., Hart A., Hookey J., Kunkel R., Scheidleder A., Tomlin C., Wendland F., 2006. Bridge
Project, Deliverable 18: Final proposal for a methodology to set out groundwater threshold values in
Europe.
Panagopoulos A., 1995. A methodology for groundwater resources management of a typical alluvial
aquifer system in Greece, PhD Dissertation, The University of Birmingham, UK.
Panagopoulos, A., Voudouris, K., Hionidi, M., Koumantakis, J., 2002. Irrational water resources management
impacts on the coastal aquifer system of Corinthia. Proceedings of the 6th International conference
Protection and Restoration of the Environment, Vol. 1, 419-426, Skiathos.
Panagopoulos A., Voudouris K., Koumantakis J., Hionidi M., 2001. Groundwater evolution of the northern
Corinthian region coastal aquifer system, as indicated by Hydrochemistry, Proceedings of the 9th
International conference of the Geological Society of Greece, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5, 1991–1997, Athens.
Panoras A, Ilias A., 1999. Irrigation with treated domestic effluent, 175 p (in Greek).
Pauwels H., Muller D., Griffionen J., Hinsby K., Melo T., Brower R., 2007. Bridge Project, Publishable
final activity report.
Voudouris K., 1995. Hydrogeological conditions in northwestern part of Achaia. PhD thesis, Department
of Geology, University of Patras (in Greek).
Voudouris, K., Lambrakis, N., Papatheodorou, G., Daskalaki, P., 1997. An application of factor analysis
for the study of the hydrogeological conditions in Plio-Pleistocene aquifers of NW Achaia (NW Peloponnesus,
Greece). Mathematical Geology, Vol. 29, No 1, 1997, 43-59.
Voudouris K., Panagopoulos A., Koumantakis J., 2000. Multivariate statistical analysis in the assessment
of hydrochemistry of the northern Corinthia Prefecture alluvial aquifer system (Peloponnese, Greece).
Natural Resources Research, Vol. 9, No 2, 135-143.
Voudouris K., Panagopoulos A., Koumantakis I., 2004. Nitrate pollution in the coastal aquifer system of
the Corinthia Prefecture (Greece), Global Nest: the Int. Journal, Vol. 6, No 1, 31-38.
Voudouris, K. 2006. Groundwater Balance and Safe Yield of the coastal aquifer system in North Eastern
Corinthia, Greece. Applied Geography, Volume 26, 291-311.
World Health Organization (WHO), 2006. Guidelines for drinking-water quality.
Most read articles by the same author(s)