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When the city harms its own water resources

In areas where surface water is not readily available (located far from areas of need), groundwater is
the primary water source. Groundwater aquifers supply an estimated 20% of the global population living
in arid and semi-arid regions. Despite their widespread presence, groundwater aquifers in arid areas
receive only limited or seasonal recharge, making such aquifers susceptible to rapid depletion. The
Northern Sahara Basin Aquifer, for example, was exploited at almost twice its replenishment rate during
the 1990s, causing many of its springs to stop owing (Jackson et al., 2001). The rapid shift of
populations to urban areas is causing ever-greater demands on groundwater resources, particularly in
the developing world. Where cities are located above productive aquifers and are far from surface
water supplies, groundwater is usually the primary freshwater source. It is primarily exploited through
hand-dug wells or drilled boreholes (Foster et al., 1998). Although urban aquifers meet the growing
water demands of several major cities today (Merida, Madras, Bangkok, Hat Yai, Santa Cruz, Dakar),
major problems are being caused by unregulated groundwater exploitation, and the disposal of solid
and liquid wastes above or into these aquifers. A growing number of large urban centre aquifers are
facing pollution from organic chemicals, pesticides, nitrates, heavy metals and waterborne pathogens.
The level of water and wastewater service provision can also radically alter aquifer replenishment
mechanisms, affecting not only the dynamic equilibrium between increased recharge availability and
pumped withdrawals, but also the magnitude of the pollutant load and the rate of aquifer
contamination. All these problems occur, to a certain degree, in towns and cities, depending on their
type of groundwater supply. Cities Experiencing Major Groundwater Problems - Hat Yai, Thailand: The
mixing of unpolluted regional groundwater and canal seepage has occurred in this busy border city. It
was discovered that the most polluted urban groundwater has high chloride concentrations, indicating
that canal water seepage has occurred at groundwater abstraction points and where downward
leakage is greatest. - Merida, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: With no main sewerage system, the majority
of Merida’s wastewater is disposed of directly to the ground via septic tanks, soak-aways, and cesspits.
The ssured nature of the local limestone means that water movement to the water table is frequently
rapid, and the vadose zone provides virtually no attenuation capacity because the aperture of the
ssures is many times larger than the size of pathogenic micro-organisms. Not surprisingly, the shallow
aquifer has been grossly contaminated, with fecal coliforms (FC) typically in the range of 1,000-4,000
per 100 ml. The permitted concentration set by WHO for drinking water is less than 1 per 100 ml. -
Santa Cruz, Bolivia: This low-rise, relatively low-density, but fast-growing city derives its water supply
from well elds within the city limits, which extract from deep semi-con ned alluvial aquifers. Although
groundwater in the deeper aquifer, below 100 m, is of excellent quality, the uppermost aquifer above 45
m has begun to show substantial deterioration, with elevated nitrate and chloride concentrations under
the more densely populated districts. These are caused by e uent disposal to the ground, mainly from
on-site sanitation units. This urban recharge is drawn downwards in response to pumping from the
deeper semi-con ned aquifers. Dissolved oxygen in the urban recharge is low, being consumed as the
carbon in the organic load is oxidized to carbon dioxide, which, in turn, reacts with carbonate minerals
in the aquifer matrix to produce bicarbonate. The oxidation of the high organic load also mobilizes
naturally occurring manganese from the aquifer matrix, and some of the production boreholes in the
main well eld have started to show concentrations above 0.5 mg per litre, leading to taste and laundry
problems (Lawrence et al., 1997).
Year: 2009
From collection: Vital Water Graphics 2
Cartographer: Philippe Rekacewicz, February 2006

Tags: environment programme The Global Environment

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