ABSTRACT
Drinking water of sufficient quality and quantity is required to maintain human health and well-being. The drinking-water resources are potentially endangered in many urbanised environments affecting the quality of life and human health. In 2010 Slovakia initiated a project aimed at the identification and management of strategic groundwater bodies within its capital district, Bratislava. Existing data and information were identified and compiled and a basic methodology for selection of alternative water resources was prepared. The results of the project are given in the paper concerning the Zitny ostrov area as a pilot case study. The basic criteria for the identification of alternative resources of drinking water are the available quantity and satisfactory quality indicators and low groundwater vulnerability. In terms of the Zitny ostrov area, the change in groundwater chemistry and quality with depth plays the most important role in the identification of alternative groundwater resources. Generally, the groundwater quality is negatively affected up to a depth of 25 m due to specific natural conditions and anthropogenic pressures. In contrast, deeper horizons are characterised by groundwater with very good quality. It can be concluded that alternative resources of potable groundwater fitting the quantitative and qualitative criteria in the Zitny ostrov area represent the aquifer horizons with depths greater than 90 m.
