Salinization and pollution of main Apulian aquifers (Southern Italy)

The Apulian hydrogeological units are of coastal type. They have been mainly formed within Mesozoic carbonate rocks. Groundwater for domestic, irrigation and industrial use has been massively withdrawn over the years and aquifers are increasingly bound to become a kind of ultimate "receptacle" for domestic and industrial waste water. In order to characterise the evolutionary features of the increasing salt- and human-related pollution, data were gathered by a region-based continuously-operating hydrogeological surveying network, covering more than 100 wells, some of which hundred meters deep, equipped with multi-parameter sensors, temperature, conductivity and level gauges set up along the vertical axis and connected to a geo-information system. Periodical water samples were taken from the in-line wells to undergo chemical, physical and bacteriological analyses aimed at detecting any farming and industrial pollutants. The impact of continental seawater intrusion is described and the Sodium Adsorption Rate (SAR) all over the Apulian region is discussed.