Abstract
Critical to global water security, aquifers represent a strategic resource that must be rationally exploited to ensure their future availability and to guarantee the socioeconomic and environmental development of a region. This paper assesses the chemistry of groundwater and evaluates its quality status using a hybrid framework that includes the use of a regionalized Groundwater Quality Index (GQIR) in conjunction with a GIS-based geostatistical tool. The proposed hybrid approach is presented through a case study conducted in a peri-urban microbasin in Northeast Brazil with an unconfined aquifer system as the main source for public water supply. For this purpose, a total of eight wells were sampled during the rainy and dry seasons throughout 2019. Twelve hydrogeochemical parameters were evaluated, of which only phosphorus exceeded the maximum allowable limit in 75% of the cases. The geostatistical distribution maps made it possible to identify the aquifer areas most affected by domestic effluents, agriculture and livestock farming. The water quality parameters are mainly affected in wells located in highly urbanized and agricultural areas (P1–P5). Despite this, the GQIR ranged from 61.40 to 75.59 (rainy season) and from 55.04 to 72.92 (dry season). Although there was a relative worsening of the water quality in the dry season, in both cases, the water quality can be classified as Good (51 < GQIR ≤ 79). This hybrid approach allows water resource managers to prioritize areas in which mitigation and aquifer monitoring actions are most needed.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support for this work of the Foundation for Scientific and Technological Development Support of the State of Ceará–FUNCAP, through its Research Productivity Grants and its Incentives to Interiorization and Technological Innovation—BPI (Grants Nº;. BP3-0139-00276.01.00/18 and Nº. BP4-0172-00080.01.00/20), and the support of the Coordination for the Qualification of Higher Education Staff (CAPES) through the Master’s scholarship program.
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Funding was provided by Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Grant no. BP3-0139-00276.01.00/18).
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FJPF: conceptualization, funding acquisition, resources, writing—review and editing, project management. MIS: investigation, writing—original draft. MTVL: visualization, formal analysis. CTFC: visualization, writing—review and editing, supervision. PRAF: visualization, formal analysis. JMCM: visualization, methodology. MP: visualization, supervision.
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da Silva, M.I., Lima, M.T.V., da Costa, C.T.F. et al. Groundwater quality assessment in a peri-urban Brazilian semi-arid microbasin. Environ Earth Sci 82, 73 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10752-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10752-2