Natural Background Levels in Groundwater

Preziosi, Elisabetta; Rotiroti, Marco; Melo, Maria Teresa Condesso de; Hinsby, Klaus

doi:10.3390/w13192770

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Here, groundwater NBLs are concentrations of given components in groundwater derived from natural sources via geogenic, chemical, and biological processes and atmospheric sedimentation (Huang et al, 2022). To date, NBLs of many contaminants such as nitrate, arsenic, and manganese in groundwater in the PRD and other regions in worldwide have been evaluated (He et al, 2022; Huang et al, 2023; Molinari et al, 2019; Preziosi et al, 2021) but little attention on groundwater Al NBL. To the best of our knowledge, only a few studies have evaluated groundwater Al NBL at a regional or national scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural background levels and driving factors of aluminum in shallow groundwater of an urbanized delta: Insight from eliminating anthropogenic‐impacted groundwaters

Yan,

Yang,

Hou

2024

Water Environment Research

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Knowledge on natural background levels (NBLs) of aluminum (Al) in groundwater can accurately assess groundwater Al contamination at a regional scale. However, it has received little attention. This study used a combination of preselection and statistic methods consisting of the oxidation capacity and the boxplot iteration methods to evaluate the NBL of shallow groundwater Al in four groundwater units of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) via eliminating anthropogenic‐impacted groundwaters and to discuss driving factors controlling high NBLs of Al in groundwater in this area. A total of 280 water samples were collected, and 18 physico‐chemical parameters including Redox potential, dissolved oxygen, pH, total dissolved solids, HCO3−, NH4+, NO3−, SO42−, Cl−, NO2−, F−, K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe, Mn, and Al were analyzed. Results showed that groundwater Al NBLs in groundwater units A‐D were 0.11, 0.16, 0.15, and 0.08 mg/L, respectively. The used method in this study is acceptable for the assessment of groundwater Al NBLs in the PRD, because groundwater Al concentrations in various groundwater units in residual datasets were independent of land‐use types, but they were opposite in the original datasets. The dissolution of Al‐rich minerals in sediments/rocks was the major source for groundwater Al NBLs in the PRD, and the interaction with Al‐rich river water was secondary one. The high groundwater Al NBL in groundwater unit B was mainly attributed to the acid precipitation and the organic matter mineralization inducing the release of Al in Quaternary sediments. By contrast, the high groundwater Al NBL in groundwater unit C mainly was ascribed to the release of Al complexes such as fluoroaluminate from rocks/soils into groundwater induced by acid precipitation, but it was limited by the dissolution of Mg minerals (e.g., dolomite) in aquifers. This study provides not only useful groundwater Al NBLs for the evaluation of groundwater Al contamination but also a reference for understanding the natural geochemical factors controlling groundwater Al in urbanized deltas such as the PRD.Practitioner Points The natural background level (NBL) of groundwater aluminum in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) was evaluated. The dissolution of aluminum‐rich minerals in sediments/rocks was the major source for groundwater aluminum NBLs in the PRD. The acid precipitation and organic matter mineralization contribute to high groundwater Al NBL in the groundwater unit B. The acid precipitation contributes to high groundwater Al NBL in the groundwater unit C, while dissolution of magnesium minerals limits it.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural background levels and driving factors of aluminum in shallow groundwater of an urbanized delta: Insight from eliminating anthropogenic‐impacted groundwaters

Yan,

Yang,

Hou

2024

Water Environment Research

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“…Groundwater is a major source of fresh water for population, used for several purposes, mainly for drinking water, but also for agricultural and industrial uses (Li et al, 2021;Preziosi et al, 2022). The importance of groundwater was celebrated on 22 March 2022, which marked the occasion of the World Water Day (United Nations, 2022), titled "Groundwater, making the invisible visible".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remediation of chlorinated solvents with Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH) at an active industrial site in Italy

Mori,

Baldock,

Gigliuto

et al. 2023

AS-ITJGW

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Italian legislation defines stringent groundwater chemical quality criteria, to be applied at a site’s downgradient property boundary, irrespective of whether the underlying aquifer is, or could be, used for water resource purposes. In some scenarios, the regulatory authorities may identify less stringent standards, but this rarely occurs. This means that many sites with groundwater contamination are managed using hydraulic barriers, as source zone remediation may not achieve the stringent groundwater standards required due to technology limits or time constraints; therefore, the parties responsible for contamination often decide to continue to operate these hydraulic barriers indefinitely. This article describes the first application in Italy of source treatment using Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH), a remediation technology capable of removing a large percentage of contaminant mass, at a site where a hydraulic barrier is operating within a low yielding aquifer that is not used for water supply. The implementation of this technology was possible since the source zone was far from the downgradient site boundary, thus making achievement of the stringent quality standards at the boundary possible within a reasonable timeframe. The ERH system recovered of about 600 kg of contaminants within a timeframe of 8 months and achieved a reduction of contaminant concentrations in the most impacted areas greater than 90%. This article also emphasizes that, in similar low yielding aquifers, setting less stringent groundwater standards at the site boundary whilst still protecting downgradient receptors may promote more widespread implementation of source remediation activities in Italy.

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“…Therefore the qualitative status of groundwater is greatly underestimated (Huang et al 2022). One of the main reasons is insu cient understanding of the spatiotemporal variability of natural background levels (NBLs) link with their generating natural processes (Preziosi et al 2021). Therefore, future research on this topic is essential to ensure sustainable groundwater quality management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Slavinskienė

Satkūnas

Taminskas

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The qualitative status of groundwater is often underestimated. This is because distinguishing trends of hydrogeochemistry variation linked to anthropogenic pressure from natural trends in groundwater is challenging. The study aims to evaluate the effect of the natural processes on the limits of temporal variability of the natural background level (NBL) in springs draining aquifer units with different vulnerabilities. Shallow groundwater samples of eighteen natural springs were investigated. Statistical analysis and geochemical modelling were used. The results showed that the natural temporal variability limits of HCO3−, Na+, K+, Cl− and SO42− in high vulnerability aquifers were narrower than in moderate and low vulnerability aquifers. This pattern was determined by the stronger buffering effect of carbonate equilibrium, sulphate reduction, and dilution processes on the variation of these major ions in high vulnerability aquifers. Meanwhile, natural temporal variability limits of TDS, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in high vulnerability aquifers were wider than in moderate and low vulnerability aquifers. This pattern was related to the stronger buffering effect of ion exchange on the variability limits of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in springs of moderate and low vulnerability aquifer units than the buffering effect of weaker carbonate dissolution and higher dilution intensity on the variability limits of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in springs of high vulnerability aquifer. The results of this research could be helpful for the reasonable integrated management and effective protection of groundwater resources.

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Natural Background Levels in Groundwater

Abstract: High levels of inorganic compounds in groundwater represent a significant problem in many parts of the world, with major economic, social and environmental drawbacks [...]

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Natural background levels and driving factors of aluminum in shallow groundwater of an urbanized delta: Insight from eliminating anthropogenic‐impacted groundwaters

Natural background levels and driving factors of aluminum in shallow groundwater of an urbanized delta: Insight from eliminating anthropogenic‐impacted groundwaters

Remediation of chlorinated solvents with Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH) at an active industrial site in Italy

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

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