Aquifer vulnerability and groundwater quality in mega cities: case of the Mexico Basin

Abstract

The aquifer system in the Metropolitan Zone of the Mexican Basin is comprised by a higher, middle, and a lower aquifer, separated by less permeable elements. This study integrated a geographical database from which aquifer vulnerability values were obtained using the SINTACS method. The results show the lowest vulnerability values in the lacustrine zone of the basin, where most of the urban area is settled. The medium vulnerability indices are at the edges of the basin and are associated with tuffs, pyroclasts and alluvial deposits. The highest vulnerability values are in the ranges bordering the basin. High water quality values are toward the limits of the basin and in the recharge zones while lower quality water is in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa zones. The results of this study enable a cause-effect relationship to be established between potential sources of contamination and groundwater quality indices only for Tlahuac and Iztapalapa, a notable finding since most of the urban area is settled over low and very low vulnerability zones.

Identification of the Hydrogeochemical Processes and Assessment of Groundwater Quality, Using Multivariate Statistical Approaches and Water Quality Index in a Wastewater Irrigated Region

“…The WQI values ranges between 0 and 100, where 0 indicates "extremely polluted" water quality and 100 indicates "excellent" water quality. Different scales have been used by different authors [41,45,46,[48][49][50][51][52][53]. In this study, the calculated WQI values were defined according to the quality scale proposed by [49], shown in Table 3.…”

Distribution Coefficient and Metal Pollution Index in Water and Sediments: Proposal of a New Index for Ecological Risk Assessment of Metals

“…Water 2020, 12,29 3 of 20 MPI and K d are two indices that allow evaluating metal-related pollution in a water body. MPI represents the geometric mean concentration of metals in a given compartment of the water body, either water, sediments, or both; K d indicates the compartment where individual metals are contained.…”

“…The Lake of Texcoco, in a closed basin known as the "basin of Mexico", is located in the southern portion of the Mesa Central (Mexico's Central Plateau) and to the East of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and is surrounded by high mountains [29]. This basin is a volcano-tectonic depression formed since the Cretaceous (with limestone recorded as the oldest rocks in the basin), and was filled by volcanic materials produced in three events: the first, during the Eocene-Oligocene and Miocene; the second, in the Miocene; and the third, in the Pliocene and late Pleistocene, associated with the early activity of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (with volcanic rocks predominating) [30].…”

“…Box and whisker plot of Log(K d MPI ) for all water bodies.A hierarchical cluster analysis applied to the values of the Log(K d MPI ) by water body showed three groups (Figure 10): (I) Lake Recreativo, (II) Lake Churubusco, and (III) lakes Nabor Carrillo, Fusible, and Regulación Horaria. This cluster corresponds to the one obtained when Log(K d ) values were used by metal and water body (Figure 7); this clustering is consistent with the Discriminant Analysis.Water 2020, 12,29 15 of Box and whisker plot of Log(Kd MPI) for all water bodies.…”

Evaluación de la inconsistencia entre vulnerabilidad y calidad del agua subterránea: el caso de Chapala Marsh, Méjico

“…However, research is scarce about the relationship between groundwater quality and aquifer vulnerability when the source of contamination is natural (lateral movement of contaminants). Ramos-Leal et al (2010) developed a geographical database using aquifer vulnerability values for Mexico City, which were obtained using the SINTACS method. An index considering potential sources of contamination was also obtained by means of spatial analysis methods.…”