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Modeling sanitary boundaries of drinking water wells on the Caspian Sea southern coasts, Iran

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Abstract

Drinking water wells need to have clearly defined sanitary boundaries to ensure proper water quality. This study has been done to define these boundaries for drinking water wells in the Mazandaran plain using statistical and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Here, an index known as the groundwater quality index (GWQI) was used to investigate the water quality. In the study area, 83 drinking water wells were selected, and for each drinking water well, the GWQI values were then estimated. Statistical analysis revealed that transmissivity of aquifer formations, groundwater depth, and distance from residential and industrial areas were significant factors on the groundwater quality. In the next step, we applied a multiple regression method using SPSS software in order to model the sanitary boundaries. Consequently, a linear model was presented to model the sanitary boundary as well as to provide the corresponding maps of these boundaries using the GIS techniques. The linear model, for each well, estimates the minimum distance from the contaminant centers that guarantees the normal GWQI values. Then, the validated model was applied in the GIS environment for zonation of the sanitary boundaries of the drinking water wells. Coupling statistical analysis with GIS technique capabilities could provide practitioners with easily interpretable water quality boundary maps in the management of these resources.

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Acknowledgments

We thank ABFAR (Mazandaran Rural Water and Sewer Company) for providing the groundwater quality secondary data and for helping us with data preprocessing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

    V. Gholami & A. M. Kalteh

  2. MSc of Water and Sewer, Mazandaran Rural Water and Sewer Company, Sari, Iran

    H. Aghagoli

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  1. V. Gholami
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  2. H. Aghagoli
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  3. A. M. Kalteh
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Correspondence to V. Gholami.

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Gholami, V., Aghagoli, H. & Kalteh, A.M. Modeling sanitary boundaries of drinking water wells on the Caspian Sea southern coasts, Iran. Environ Earth Sci 74, 2981–2990 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4329-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4329-3

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