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Introduction |
1 1British Geological Survey, Wallingford, UK
2 2Environment Agency, UK
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Diffuse pollution from human activities at the land surface remains a major groundwater quality concern for the UK, for our European partners, in North America and now increasingly in the developing world. The impact on the underlying groundwater of leached nitrogen from the gradual intensification of arable farming was recognized in the 1970s. Since then, considerable research effort has been devoted to quantifying the scope and scale of such pollution, understanding the mechanisms by which it occurs, and predicting likely future concentrations of nitrate in groundwater.
Over the years, concern about the impact of diffuse pollution has broadened to include other activities and potential sources of pollutants, such as atmospheric deposition, urbanization, livestock and farm wastes and transport infrastructure. Further, if nitrate could be leached from agricultural land, intensification of pesticide usage suggested that the more mobile and persistent compounds might also be leached beneath the soil and eventually reach groundwater. Increased sampling for pesticides in many countries has shown this to be the case.
Tackling the impacts of diffuse pollution has become an important but difficult regulatory task at European and national levels. It has also required major investment by the water industry in blending, treatment and alternative supplies to comply with drinking water standards. The interest of the community of groundwater professionals in the subject of diffuse pollution, therefore, remains high and the Hydrogeological Group of the Geological Society decided to organise a one-day meeting on the subject at Burlington House in June 2003. The conveners captured a
