The EU Water Framework Directive and Nitrate Directive proposed for all the EU member states that groundwater bodies must be kept in “good chemical status”.
In Hungary there were no sufficient data available and information on the chemical status – mainly contaminants of human origin – of the groundwater. Therefore an extensive survey on the groundwater quality and establishment of a groundwater monitoring system were needed that provide groundwater quality data for further investigations, state surveys, water management plans.
Project „Survey on the Chemical Status of Groundwaters, Hungary EuropeAid/114956/D/SV/HU2002-000-180-04-01-02-03” was funded by PHARE Programme (Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies). The project leader was the Ministry of Environment and Water. The Geological Survey of Finland participated in the project as general contractor, consortium partners were BRGM, HGN-Hydrogeologie Ltd., Hungarian Geological Survey, SMARAGD-GSH-Ltd. and ELGOSCAR 2000 Ltd.
The main task of SMARAGD-GSH Ltd. in the project (2005-2006) was the establishment of the groundwater monitoring system and accredited groundwater sampling. 574 new monitoring wells were drilled (8214,2 m) in 244 locations in one year. Tasks of the Ltd. were selection of the location, engineering, licensing and construction of the wells considering the instructions of the expert group.
The monitoring wells are appropriate for detecting and characterizing the possible effects of the different landuses (e.g. settlements, agriculture) on the groundwater quality.