VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE ZATON-BULBA KARST AQUIFER, A BASIS TO DEFINE ITS PROTECTION AREAS

Abstract

Groundwater is a vital resource, when considering its role in the water supply for human activities. Regardless their location, the quality of groundwater resources is influenced by different natural and anthropic factors, especially if the hydro geomorphological settings allow the pollutants to reach the aquifer from the ground surface. Various methods for aquifer vulnerability assessment were developed over time. This paper presents the vulnerability assessment of the karst aquifer Zaton-Bulba, situated in the South-Western part of Romania, in the Mehedinti Plateau. Two specific methods were used for the vulnerability assessment of this aquifer. The first method is DRASTIC which is a general method that can be applied for any kind of aquifer and the second method is EPIK which is a method developed specifically for karst aquifers. These methods were chosen considering the available data and their international use. Each of these methods uses different parameters revealing different characteristics of the studied aquifer. Two vulnerability maps, corresponding to each method, have been obtained. The aquifer groundwater protection area could be delineated considering the mapping vulnerability assessment results.