The ENVIBASE-Project
Documentation / Online Handbook
| Water |
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Everywhere people are incrasingly concerned with controlling the pollution of both
surface and ground water. Ground water is the main problem, especially where cities have
to rely on their own ground water for the fresh water provision (i.e. Berlin).
Surface water suffers everywhere mainly from eutrophication, caused by the lack of
sewage treatment plants (or even its complete absence as in Milan) in the streams leaving
the urban areas. Inside the urban area eutrification is caused by polluted storm water
flowing off the sealed surfaces. Also, most river banks are artificially constructed. This
causes an important biological corridor to be lost as well as the water clearing function
of the vegetation.
The attention to groundwater problems and its protection are very different, depending
mainly on its use:
- Except from a general hydrolitological map Athens does not have information about ground water. Fresh water supply comes from distant mountain areas and the main problems until now have been storm water flow off control and sewage treatment. But due to the intense presence of industry in the Attiki Basin groundwater pollution problems are assumed and should be controlled.
- Berlin depends primarily on his own ground water for the fresh water supply, holds
precise information on groundwater pollution (i.e. in the old polluted sites cadaster,
continuous monitoring in the groundwater catchment protection areas) and on its level.
Important maps for planning show the ground water vulnerability to pollution and the water catchment protection zones.
- Milan faces the problem of an extreme groundwater level rise due to the closing of many industrial wells, has data on the ground water level, the quantities extracted from
private wells and a monitoring programme for the quality control.
- In Rome there is a complex hydrogeological map giving precise indications on soil
permeability, groundwater depth and flow direction. Freshwater supply comes historically from outside, but on the roman territory are many important springs of mineral water which are safeguarded trough a groundwater pollution monitoring programme.
Indications for the most commonly produced and important maps/results for an
Environmental Information System
- Discharge network of sewage and storm water; the data are normally available at the city water utilities and are needed for planning control and pollution prevention.
- Groundwater vulnerability to pollution; this map is obtained from the soil
permeability and the groundwater depth. It allows a risk evaluation i.e. for the planning of industrial settlements.
- Quality of groundwater
- Quality of surface waters
- Ground water formation; showing sensitive areas to disturbances, soil sealing etc.
- Limnology and waterside ecology; this map expresses the vitality of a water body.