Sustainability of Groundwater Resources and its Indicators (Proceedings of symposium S3 held during the Seventh IAHS Scientific Assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005). IAHS Publ. 302, 2006, 184-192.

 

Groundwater resources assessment at a local scale: monitoring of industrial effluents in a wetland

 

MARTA PARIS 1, MÓNICA D´ELIA1, MARCELA PEREZ 1 & OFELIA TUJCHNEIDER1,2

1 Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral,
Ciudad Universidaria CC 217 (3000), Santa Fe, Argentina

martaparis@ciudad.com.ar or mparis@fich1.unl.edu.ar

2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Universidaria CC 217 (3000), Santa Fe, Argentina

 

Abstract In general, industrial activities produce a potential pollution hazard for groundwater which depends on the characteristics of both the contaminant load and the receptor body. Bahco Argentina SA, an industrial metallurgy company, has built a wetland for secondary treatment of its effluents with the aim of achieving sustainable environmental management and as a step before the final disposal into a local surface water body. Hydrogeological charac­terization has developed an understanding of the groundwater flow particu­larities at regional and local scales. A monitoring programme is currently being carried out to obtain a clear identification of the state of the groundwater and surface systems, taking into account that groundwater supply sources are located near to the industrial plant. The results regarding operation and moni­toring of the industrial wetland provide a new perspective on the temporal behaviour of this type of treatment.

 

Key words  constructed wetland; groundwater pollution hazard; industrial wetland