ABSTRACT
M.J. Afonso1, H.I. Chaminé1, J.M. Carvalho1, J.M. Marques2, A. Gomes3, M.A. Araújo3, P.E. Fonseca4, J. Teixeira5, M.A. Marques da Silva5 and F.T. Rocha5 1Dep. de Engenharia Geotécnica, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Rua do Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal (E-mail: mja@isep.ipp.pt); and Centro de Minerais Industriais e Argilas (MIA), Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
2Dep. de Engenharia de Minas e Georrecursos (DEMING), Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisboa, Portugal
3Dep. de Geografia (GEDES), Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Portugal 4Dep. de Geologia (LATTEX), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal 5Dep. de Geociências, Universidade de Aveiro (MIA, ELMAS), Portugal
ABSTRACT: Regional geological, morphotectonical and hydrogeological mapping in the sustainable management of groundwater resources is demonstrated for the Porto metropolitan area in northwest Portugal. Porto City is the second most important city on the Portuguese mainland and supports about 1 million inhabitants. Thirty-five groundwater samples collected from springs, dug-wells and boreholes were analysed for major ion parameters to investigate: i) their hydrochemical character, ii) their suitability for use and iii) the contaminant sources influencing water resource quality. The results obtained show that despite natural low level salinity derived from atmospheric transport of salts from the Atlantic Ocean, groundwaters underlying the Porto metropolitan area are generally suitable for both potable and irrigation uses. Locally, groundwater quality is compromised by human activities, most notably related to the intense urbanisation and local agricultural activities, the latter most predominant in the NW and NE sectors of the city.
