Author(s)

J. Krivic

Abstract

An aquifer acts as a pollution pathway between the source of pollution and the receptor. In this paper the risk of pollution of well water from a highway as the pollution source on a surface of a recharge area is estimated and discussed. A highway is a source of long-term pollutant release resulting from highway runoff and also the momentary release through spillage of hazardous materials. The solute transport through the individual segments of the system has been investigated in order to evaluate the probable pollutant concentrations in the well water. The study showed that the long-term low-level pollutant release presents almost no risk whereas the momentary releases of large quantities of hazardous liquids present a high risk to well water quality. Keywords: wellhead protection area, highway runoff, groundwater pollution, solute transport. 1 Introduction Groundwater is one of the most important sources of drinking water. Various activities in a recharge area of a groundwater pumping station pose a threat to the quantitative and qualitative state of well water and ground water in general. Furthermore, any activity on top of an aquifer or in its recharge area poses a threat to groundwater. The risk of well water pollution from such activities should be properly assessed. Consequently, measures should be taken in order to protect the groundwater bodies from pollution, with special emphasis being put on the protection of the recharge areas of existing wells. However, the flat surface of a typical lowland aquifer is predominantly used for agriculture and urbanization, and it is also particularly convenient for building transport infrastructure. These sorts of conflicts of interests can be resolved using risk

Keywords

wellhead protection area, highway runoff, groundwater pollution, solute transport.