Nitrat i grundvattnet : Modellanalys av vattenflöde till Hörviks vattentäkt

Sammanfattning: A well, situated on Listerlandet in the western part of Blekinge in Sweden, has a very high content of nitrate. Water with a too high content of nitrate is hazardous to human health, in particular to small children. The area surrounding the well is mostly drained agricultural land with some larger farms for chicken and mink. The well takes its water from the bedrock and is deeper than most other wells affected by nitrate. The bedrock in the area is dominated by limestone with a relatively high flow of water. This thesis was performed in order to find the source of the nitrate. A groundwater model, simulating the water flow, was created. The model was used to trace the particles flowing to the well in order to find the most likely source. GMS Modflow and Modpath were used to create the model. The validation of the model shows that the model is good enough to be used for further investigation of the groundwater in the area. The model result indicates that the original source for most of the nitrate is some large mink farms situated on the slope of a hill south of the well. Calculation shows that it takes the water 25 years to flow from the farms to the well. There is also a probable contribution of nitrate from the agriculture in the vicinity of the well. But an extensive drainage system brings most of the water from the cultivated area into the Baltic Sea. Conclusions are that a large amount of mink farms placed in a small area contributes to the high content of nitrate in the well. Further examinations are needed to show which measures should be taken in order to diminish the content of nitrate in the well.