A map showing groundwater distribution throughout South Africa.
“Groundwater droughts
often lag surface water
droughts, implying
that some reserve
is often available for
abstraction in times of
dire need.”
Dr Matthys Dippenaar – University of Pretoria
and distribution of underground water
— the aquifers in which groundwater
occurs — and how to supply from
or dewater these aquifers are some
applications of hydraulics, and are
supported by aquifer testing, modelling,
and other acceptable best practice
methods.
Coupled
with
hydraulics,
hydrogeologists
also
consider
groundwater quality. This includes
contaminant transport (the movement
of the complete array of waterborne
contaminants
and
pollutants),
quantification of hydraulic parameters
by means of geochemical principles
(for example, isotopes and tracers), and
geochemical modelling. This obviously
goes hand in hand with source
apportionment for pollution studies and
the subsequent recommendation for
remediation of polluted groundwater.
Finally, linking both hydraulics
and quality, hydrogeologists are
becoming increasingly more involved
in groundwater and water governance.
Water Sewage & Effluent July/August 2017
17
contributor
Spring at Grootfontein, City of Tshwane.