Abstract
In recent years DRASTIC method has been used to map groundwater vulnerability to pollution in very areas. As this method is used in different places without any evolution, it cannot bring up the effects of pollution type and characteristics. Hence, the method needs to be calibrated and reformed for a specific aquifer and pollution. In the present resent research, the rates of DRASTIC parameters have been reformed so that the vulnerability potential to pollution can be determine more exactly. The new rates were calculated using the relationships between each parameter and the nitrate concentration in the groundwater. The suggested methodology was applied to Asadabad aquifer located in western of Iran. The measured nitrate condensation values were used to correlate the pollution potential in the aquifer to DRASTIC index. The results showed that the modified DRASTIC is better than the original method for nonpoint source pollutions in agricultural zones. Application of the new rates, a new DRASTIC map was expanded that shows that 2.1 percent of the area fall in high vulnerability class. This percentage was 2.5 before the modification. The assessed area was 34.2% and 58.19% for moderate class and, for low vulnerability class, 63.7% and 31.39% respectively, before and after using of the new rates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Abadi, A.M., Al-Shamma’a, A.M., and Aljabbari, M.H., 2017, A GIS-based DRASTIC model for assessing intrinsic groundwater vulnerability in northeastern missan governorate, southern Iraq. Applied Water Science, 7, 89–101.
Al-Zabet, T., 2002, Evaluation of aquifer vulnerability to contamination potential using the DRASTIC method. Environmental Geology, 43, 203–208.
Aller, L., Bennet, T., Lehr, H.J., Petty, R.J., and Hackett, G., 1987, DRASTIC: a standardized system for evaluating groundwater pollution potential using hydrogeological settings. Report EPA-600/2-87-035, Environmental Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, 622 p.
Anonymous, 2014, Report on hydroclimatological water balance. Hamadan provincial water authority, Hamadan, 136 p.
Bodrud-Doza, M., Islam, A.T., Ahmed, F., Das, S., Saha, N., and Rahman, M.S., 2016, Characterization of groundwater quality using water evaluation indices, multivariate statistics and geostatistics in central Bangladesh. Water Science, 30, 19–40.
Brosig, K., Geyer, T., Subah, A., and Sauter, M., 2008, Travel time based approach for the assessment of vulnerability of karst groundwater: the Transit Time Method. Environmental geology, 54, 905–911.
Civita, M., 1994, La carte della vulnerbilita? degli aquifer all’inquinamento. Teoria & practica. (Aquifer vulnerability maps to pollution). Pitagora Ed, Bologna. (in Italian)
Civita, M. and De Regibus, C., 1995, Sperimentazione di alcune metdologie per la valutazione della vulnerabilita’ degli aquifer. Quaderni di Geologia Applicata, Pitagora Ed. Bologna, 3, 63–71. (in Italian)
Corniello, A., Ducci, D., and Napolitano, P., 1997, Comparison between parametric methods to evaluate aquifer pollution vulnerability using GIS: an example in the “Piana Company”, southern Italy. In: Marinos, P.G., Koukis, G.C., Tsiambaos, G.C., and Stournaras, G.C., (eds.), Engineering Geology and the Environmental. Balkema, Rotterdam, p. 1721–1726.
Daly, D., Dassargues, A., Drew, D., Dunne, S., Goldscheider, N., Neales, S., Popescu, C., and Zwahlen, F., 2002, Main concepts of the European approach for karst groundwater vulnerability and assessment and mapping. Hydrogeology Journal, 10, 340–345.
Doerfliger, N., Jeannin, P.Y., and Zwahlen, F., 1999, Water vulnerability assessment in karst environments: a new method of defining protection areas using a multi-attribute approach and GIS tools (EPIK method). Environment Geology, 39, 165–175.
Foster, S.S.D., 1987, Fundamental concepts in aquifer vulnerability, pollution risk and protection strategy. In: van Duijvenbooden, W. and van Waegeningh, H.G. (eds.), TNO Committee on Hydrological Research, the Hague. Vulnerability of Soil and Groundwater to Pollutants, Proceedings and Information, 38, p. 69–86.
El-Gawad, H.S.A., 2014, Aquatic environmental monitoring and removal efficiency of detergents. Water Science, 28, 51–64.
Elsokkary, I.H. and Abukila, A.F., 2014, Risk assessment of irrigated lacustrine & calcareous soils by treated wastewater. Water Science, 28, 1–17.
Ghazavi, R. and Ebrahimi, Z., 2015, Assessing groundwater vulnerability to contamination in an arid environment using DRASTIC and GOD models. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 12, 2909–2918.
Gundogdu, K.S. and Guney, I., 2007, Spatial analyses of groundwater level using universal kriging. Journal of Earth System Science, 116, 49–55.
Huan, H., Wang, J., and Teng, Y., 2012, Assessment and validation of groundwater vulnerability to nitrate based on a modified DRASTIC model: a case study in Jilin City of northeast China. Science of the Total Environment, 440, 14–23.
Jessica, E.L. and Sonia, T., 2009, Groundwater vulnerability assessment and integrated water resource management. Watershed management bulletin, 13, 18–29.
Kalinski, R.J., Kelly, W.E., Bogardi, I., Ehrman, R.L., and Yamamoto, P.O., 1994, Correlation between DRASTIC vulnerabilities and incidents of VOC contamination of municipal wells in Nebraska. Ground Water, 32, 31–34.
Kumar, V., 2007, Optimal contour mapping of groundwater levels using universal kriging–a case study. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 52, 1038–1050.
McLay, C.D.A., Dragden, R., Sparling, G., and Selvarajah, N., 2001, Predicting groundwater nitrate concentrations in a region of mixed agricultural land use: a comparison of three approaches. Environmental Pollution, 115, 191–204.
National Research Council, 1993, Groundwater vulnerability assessment: predicting relative contamination potential under conditions of uncertainty. Committee for assessing groundwater vulnerability, National Academic Press, Washington D.C., 224 p.
Neshat, A., Pradhan, B., Pirasteh, S., and Shafri, H.Z.M., 2014, Estimating groundwater vulnerability to pollution using a modified DRASTIC model in the Kerman agricultural area, Iran. Environmental Earth Sciences, 71, 3119–3131.
Oroji, B. and Solgi, I., 2016, Vulnerability assessment of Asadabad (Hamadan) plain groundwater by GIS. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 14, 91–104. (in Persian)
Panagopoulos, G.P., Antonakos, A.K., and Lambrakis, N.J., 2006, Optimization of the DRASTIC method for groundwater vulnerability assessment via the use of simple statistical methods and GIS. Hydrogeology Journal, 14, 894–911.
Polemio, M., Dragone, V., and Limoni, P.P., 2009, Monitoring and methods to analyse the groundwater quality degradation risk in coastal karstic aquifers (Apulia, Southern Italy). Environmental Geology, 58, 299–312.
Popescu, I.C., Gardin, N.N., Brouye’re, S., and Dassargues, A., 2008, Groundwater vulnerability assessment using physically based modeling: from challenges to pragmatic solution. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Calibration and Reliability in Groundwater Modeling: Credibility in Modelling, Copenhagen, Sep. 9–13, p. 83–88.
Rundquist, D.C., Rodekohr, D.A., Peters, A.J., Ehrman, L.D., and Murray. G., 1991, Statewide groundwater vulnerability assessment in Nebraska using the DRASTIC/GIS model. Geocarto International, 6, 51–58.
Rupert, M.G., 1999, Improvements to the DRASTIC ground-water vulnerability mapping method. USGS fact sheet FS-066-99, USGS, Reston, 6 p.
SAS Institute, Inc., 1999, SAS Online Doc, Version eight: Accessed on August 23, 2004, at URL” <http://v8doc.sas.com/sashtml>.
Secunda, S., Collin, M.L., and Melloul, A.J., 1998, Groundwater vulnerability assessment using a composite model combining DRASTIC with extensive agricultural land use in Israel’s Sharon region. Journal of Environmental Management, 54, 39–57.
Shirazi, S.M., Imran, H.M., and Akib, S., 2012, GIS-based DRASTIC method for groundwater vulnerability assessment: a review. Journal of Risk Research, 15, 991–1011.
Solgi, I. and Oroji, B., 2018, A survey of nitrate and nitrite concentrations in groundwater of urban and agricultural areas of the Asadabad plain. Iran Water Resources Research, 13, 161–167. (in Persian)
Tesoriero, A.J, Inkpen, E.L., and Voss, F.D., 1998, Assessing groundwa ter vulnerability using logistic regression. Proceedings of Source Water Assessment and Protection 98: a Technical Conference, Dallas, Apr. 28–30, p. 157–165.
Thapinta, A. and Hudak, P.F., 2003, Use of geographic information systems for assessing groundwater pollution potential by pesticides in central Thailand. Environment International, 29, 87–93.
Van Stempvoort, D., Ewert, D., and Wassenaar, L., 1993, Aquifer vulnerability index: a GIS compatible method for groundwater vulnerability mapping. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 18, 25–37.
Von Hoyer, M. and Sofner, B., 1998, Groundwater vulnerability mapping in carbonate (Karst) area of Germany. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hanover, Archive No. 117854, 38 p.
Vrba, J. and Zaporozec, A., 1994, Guidebook on Mapping Groundwater Vulnerability. International Association of Hydrogeologists, International Contributions to Hydrogeology, 16, 131 p.
Wang, J., He, J., and Chen, H., 2012, Assessment of groundwater contamination risk using hazard quantification, a modified DRASTIC model and groundwater value, Beijing Plain, China. Science of the Total Environment, 432, 216–226.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oroji, B., Karimi, Z.F. Application of DRASTIC model and GIS for evaluation of aquifer vulnerability: case study of Asadabad, Hamadan (western Iran). Geosci J 22, 843–855 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-017-0082-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-017-0082-9