Eftimi, R.; Shehu, K.; Sara, F. Hydrogeological Aspects of the Municipal Water Supply of Albania: Situation and Problems. Hydrology2023, 10, 193.
Eftimi, R.; Shehu, K.; Sara, F. Hydrogeological Aspects of the Municipal Water Supply of Albania: Situation and Problems. Hydrology 2023, 10, 193.
Eftimi, R.; Shehu, K.; Sara, F. Hydrogeological Aspects of the Municipal Water Supply of Albania: Situation and Problems. Hydrology2023, 10, 193.
Eftimi, R.; Shehu, K.; Sara, F. Hydrogeological Aspects of the Municipal Water Supply of Albania: Situation and Problems. Hydrology 2023, 10, 193.
Abstract
The municipal water supply, related mainly to the cities of Albanian, began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and much intensively after 1945. Today the reported mean water production for the cities, on average, is about 300 l/capita/d including drinking and industrial water supply. The territory of Albania consists of uneven distribution of very heterogeneous aquifers conditioning the reach variety of the municipal water supply solutions. In this article are analyzed and classified the hydrogeological aspects of water supply sources of the settlements, which are summarized in five groups: (a) Wells in alluvial intergranular aquifers; (b) karst springs; (c) wells in karst aquifers; (d) springs in fissured rocks, and (e) mixed water sources. For each group of the water supply sources the main concerns regarding the quantity and quality problems are analyzed facilitated by the description of a variety of representative examples of different situations. Based on the gained experience important recommendation are given for the better understanding of hydrogeological aspects of water supply systems emphasizing the problematics along the river water recharge areas and on the seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers, as well as on transboundary aquifers. However, the main problems of public water supply of Albania remain the poor management of water supply systems which is reflected in the e high water losses, as well as the low public awareness of request for sustainable use.
Keywords
Municipal water supply; intergranular aquifers; karstic spring; contamination of water sources; Albania
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
