Impact of water and sewage management in rural areas on the quality of groundwater in lowland agricultural basin

Abstract

In agriculturally used lowlands areas in Poland contamination of groundwater is one of most significant environmental problems. The paper presents results of analyses of the quality of groundwater in the upper part of the Wilga River basin (a right-hand tributary of Vistula River). The surface area of this part of the basin is 231.6 sq. km. The river basin was chosen for investigation due to a very good representativility for rural areas in the lowlands areas in Poland. The results of analyses of the chemical composition of water indicate that the quality of groundwater is mostly influenced by farming. The locally very high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus derived from the point sources such as the leaking settling tanks (Or their lack altogether), improper storage of manure, as well as inadequate management of other waste resulting from livestock husbandry