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USE OF GROUNDWATER AGE INDICATORS IN RISK ASSESSMENT TO AID WATER SUPPLY OPERATIONAL PLANNING
Author(s) -
Morris B.,
Stuart M. E.,
Darling W. G.,
Gooddy D. C.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-6593.2005.tb00547.x
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , hydrogeology , groundwater , aquifer , water resource management , environmental science , hazard , residence , risk assessment , water supply , environmental planning , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental engineering , engineering , computer science , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , demography , organic chemistry , computer security , sociology
Groundwater residence‐time survey results on 21 public water supplies in the chalk aquifer in southern England are compared with a previous Cryptosporidium risk assessment which was carried out on the same supplies for regulatory‐compliance purposes in 1999. The results indicate that residence‐time indicators could provide useful corroborative evidence for rapid recharge hazard ‐ not only in those settings already identified by microbiological surveillance, but also in the more difficult‐to‐identify situation where potential rapid pathways have been identified but the bacteriological indicators are negative or ambiguous. However, groundwater‐mixing processes under pumping conditions are complex, especially in the chalk, and will always require interpretation informed by an understanding of the local hydrogeological and operational setting.