L. GOURCY BRGM Wien, October 2018 Hydrogeological processes and Geological settings over Europe controlling dissolved geogenic and anthropogenic elements in groundwater of relevance to human health and the status of dependent ecosystems L. GOURCY BRGM Wien, October 2018

GeoERA - GROUNDWATER Objectives to gain understanding of the controls on groundwater quality across Europe using the combined expertise and data held by member states

Main focus Studying geogenic and anthropogenic pollutants GeoERA - GROUNDWATER Main focus Studying geogenic and anthropogenic pollutants In relation to drinking water, human and ecosystem health Linking geology, processes and variability of groundwater quality Considering data sharing, technical and scientific exchange Producing maps and web services

GeoERA - GROUNDWATER Structure

GeoERA - GROUNDWATER The WP3 Hydrogeochemistry and health: Mapping groundwater characteristics for the management of aquifers naturally enriched in dissolved elements 23 partners/country participating -> more to attract?

Three main axes of work Thermal and mineral water : Inventory and data existing at EU scale ad representing (web service most probably) the information. Natural background levels (NBL) : Identifying the aggregation units and ways of representing the information and best way to calculate the NBL for some specific elements at EU scale Determination and selection of health indicators : At some hot spot (“anomalies”) for some specific elements the HydroGeoToxicity (HGT) indicators will be calculated and anomalies be explained by geological/human being parameters in order to propose management recommendation

Natural Background Level Elements considered: T, pH, TDS, temperature, Eh, O2 Ca, Mg, Na, Cl HCO3, K, Cl, SO4 As, B, Ba, Br, Cr, F, Hg, I, Li, Ni, Pb, Sr, U, V Objectives : Proposing a litho-geological classification system based on the capacities of rocks to release elements to GW Data set and mapping of the results of the statistical data treatment i.e. concentrations of elements of natural origin per typologies (litho-geological classification system)

Natural Background Level Method : Inventory of background maps available in Europe (lithology, geology, faults, mining activities,…) in shape files (and publicly available) Inventory of data available (chemical data and associated information on monitoring points) Defining the spatial working units in order to have a pertinent information at EU scale and that can be used to extrapolate the information in sectors without data -> If possible, web service at EU scale and if not methods and pilot sites

Natural Background Level Inventory of methods/NBL used at country level At working unit -> calculating the NBL (centile 90 for example) for each unit with enough data Trying to calculate NBL also in sectors under pressure for some elements (and not only natural environment such as with BRIDGE project) using sophisticated statistical tests and pressure information

Natural Background Level An overview of the results per working units would confirm the posibilies of extrapolation of the NBL for sectors without data (and under which conditions) The results will also allow confirming the favorable conditions for high concentration of some elements at EU scale Permit to confirm the selection of the pilot sites/areas for the health impact evaluation (task 4 of the WP)

Natural Background Level and health The objective of this task is to determine the processes that explain the “hot spot” of natural origin and calculate indicators such as hydrogeotoxicity risk (HGT) -> at pilot site (not possible at EU scale) – most probably sedimentary areas exploited as detritic aquifers -> for only few (and more toxic) elements – at least As Coupling HGT to structural geological features (main faults), agricultural land use, carbonate equilibria, pumping “exploitation rate”, temperature…. Forcada et al. 2017

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