1. 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

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

3. 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

4. GeoERA - GROUNDWATER
Structure

5. 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?

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

12. Timeframe
Information platform (EGDI)