Rationale

The ASAP approach to aquifer protection builds on the following rationale:

• Financial resources for bulk reconstruction and/or rehabilitation are seldom available. More often annual allocations fit just for maintenance plus a limited quota for ongoing rehabilitation. ASAP translates even limited resources into effective action plans for expeditious integration of abstraction and leakage cut-down.
• Dynamic flow/pressure regulation based on reliable network models allow priority-driven losses management and remediation, ensuring also best-fit response to demand fluctuations or displacements with minimum abstraction.
• Diminished pumping needs accompanied by robust aquifer model and data allow to allocate at best the spared resource. In fact appropriate reduction of abstraction intensity allows to increases the piezometric pressure thus driving aquifers to regain yeld equilibrium. Moreover the rise of piezometric pressure is accompanied by diminished diffusivity, hence reducing the risk of incidentally induced infiltration or intrusion (as in the case of storm-water, losing streams, salted water) that potentially expose groundwater to pollution.

Background

ASAP scientific, technological and industrial basement grounds on the results of key 5FP and 6FP projects (such as TILDE, SOWA, SMART) and leading edge approaches encouraged by internationally reputed organisms such as EEA and IWA.

The project aims to demonstrate at a suitable scale how to put the approach in practice, acting on the endangered aquifer of Bientina (Pisa, IT) that represents a broadly representative scene.