Risk management of trace organic compounds and pathogens in rural karst catchments (AGRO, BMBF)

The project AGRO is a cooperation between the Technical University of Berlin, the Water Technology Centre Karlsruhe and the University of Göttingen. Within the project a tool is developed for the process-based risk management of micro-contaminants and pathogens in karst aquifers on the catchment scale. As investigation area the Gallusquelle, a karst spring on the Swabian Alb in southwest Germany, has been chosen. This spring offers ideal conditions to reach the aims of the project:
a) intensively investigated karst system with long-term basic data,
b) different types of land use within the catchment,
c) spring water is used for drinking water supply.
This allows for deriving general statements regarding risk management and enables the application of project results to other aquifer systems.
The overall goal of the research project is to provide specific measures for the identification and mitigation of the input of emerging pollutants and pathogens to the groundwater on catchment scale.


Working focuses at the University of Göttingen:

1. Occurrence and variance of trace organics at the model location Gallusquelle

• Temporally highly resolved and simultaneous monitoring of hydrodynamic basic parameters and trace organics at the Gallusquelle
• Modification of the existing sample preparation with respect to the turbidity-association of micro-contaminants and complex sample matrix
• Identification of sources

2. Development and application of a modeling tool fort he simulation of the residence time distribution of the water at the model location

• Preparation of available data for the model setup of the field site
• Simulation of the residence time distribution of water for the field site Gallusquelle with a process-based numerical modeling approach

The project AGRO is part of the BMBF funding measure "Risk Management of Emerging Compounds and Pathogens in the Water Cycle (RiSKWa)".