Groundwater protection 1300-OOWP3W

The lecture is concentrated on:
Hydrogeological basics for groundwater protection:
• anthropogenical and geogenical contamination
• degree of potential threat of useful aquifer
• hydrogeological conditions of pollution migration
• determination of migration time in unsaturated and saturated zone (advection, diffusion)
• impact of rock medium on migration of pollutants in aquifer (determination of average effective velocity of water in aquifer, dispersion parameters, flow parameters, diffusion, sorption and decay parameters or biodegradation of migrant)
• migration of contaminants in groundwater (calculations of concentrations and migration of pollutants from point, linear and areal sources of contamination in aquifer as a function of time for the convective-diffusion transfer)
Protection of groundwater resources:
• circulation system, hydrogeological balance
• changes of hydrogeological system as a result of intense exploitation
• water-management balance of river basin in the range of groundwater and surface water
• reserves and deficits of groundwater resources
• optimization of water-management system
Examples of groundwater threats - methods of prevention
• propagation of petroleum pollution in soil and aquatic environment and an overview of methods for remediation of soil and groundwater from pollutants with oil substances
• pesticide pollution of groundwater and methods of its prevention
Legal regulations for management of groundwater resources
• water law
• geological and mining law in the range of groundwater resource

European Union Law concerning on the protection of water and its transposition into Polish Law.

Legislation process of European Union Law concerning on the protection of water intended for drinking.

Type of course

obligatory courses

Prerequisites (description)

Students should have basic knowledge related to: Evaluation of the origin of groundwater, waters in unsaturated and saturated zone and the hydrogeological systematics, hydrogeological medium and space (porous, fractured and karstic), hydrogeological properties of rocks and the methodology of their determination (water-storage capacity, gravitational drainage capacity, elastic capacity, hydraulic permeability - permeability coefficient and intrinsic permeability coefficient), aquifers characteristics and occurrence of groundwater in different geological structures and environments (glacial and fluvioglacial sediments, alluvial sediments, various forms of tectonics in the pre Quaternary formations), the role of dislocation zones in the circulation and drainage processes of groundwater, physical, organoleptic properties of groundwater and groundwater chemistry, the types and extent of chemical analysis of water, groundwater transformation and hydrogeochemical zones, therapeutic waters, the fundamental rights of groundwater flow, the filtration theory, the types of the groundwater flow, Darcy’s law and range of its applicability, apparent seepage velocity, effective velocity, groundwater flow rate, hydrogeological parameters of aquifers and aquifuges, permeability coefficient, transmissivity coefficient, elastic capacity coefficient, factor and parameter of seepage through aquifuge.

Course coordinators

Jerzy Małecki

Learning outcomes

After completing the subject (lecture and classes) a student:
determines degree of potential threat of useful aquifer, identifies anthropogenical and geogenical contamination of groundwater, determines the migration parameters and projects protective zones of groundwater intake and groundwater reservoirs, knows and is able to use the legislation on the management of groundwater resources, identifies the legislation process of European Union Law concerning on the protection of water intended for drinking.

Assessment criteria

A final assessment of the subject on the basis of written exam (to take the exam a student must obtain a positive assessment of the classes).

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Applied geology

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 1300-OOWP3W in USOSweb