From historical hydrogeological inventory through GIS mapping to problem solving in urban groundwater systems

Chaminé, Helder I.; Afonso, Maria José; Freitas, Liliana

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/18050

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Authors

Chaminé, Helder I.

Afonso, Maria José

Freitas, Liliana

Abstract(s)

Water resources have had a huge impact on the socioeconomic sustainability and development of urban areas. The close relationship between water and human society has been important throughout the history of civilization. The water supply for early urban settlements included mainly the use of river canals, rainwater-harvesting systems, wells, aqueducts and underground cisterns. The industrialisation period in Europe promoted an increase in population and expansion of urban areas. Furthermore, several epidemics devastated European urban areas in the period between the18th and 19th centuries. Unhygienic conditions caused by polluted water, human and animal waste and excreta were among the main causes. This study discusses the importance of historical hydrogeological inventories in a large urban area, such as Porto city (NW Portugal), to better comprehend the evolution of urban water supply systems. In that approach urban geosciences need to advance towards a smart urban geoscience concept.