Drought is to blame – Dirty Danube becomes a problem for groundwater

The “beautiful and blue” Danube has been a real problem child for local water engineers for years. Although the great river is still “spotless” compared to other bodies of water, very few experts attribute the quality of its drinking water to it.

Due to climate change and increasing drought, the lifeblood can even become a serious environmental problem. Until now, groundwater has been pushed up in many places and feeds streams and rivers. Now, however, more dirty flowing water is likely to seep under the ground and thus also end up in the empty groundwater reservoirs, say experts from the Working Group on Wells and Groundwater of the German Society for Limnology and of the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Vienna. .

A problem with unforeseen consequences, because waste water and waste continue to contribute to pollution in this country.

Using water sparingly
In Austria, groundwater shortages would increase, especially in those parts of the country in the east and southeast where there are already problems, explains water expert Christian Griebler. Precipitation shortages in the Weinviertel, Marchfeld and Tullnerfeld regions are already more than 50 percent compared to the ten-year average.

“Saving water, both industrial and private”
To solve the problem, one needs to “conserve water, both industrial and private, in order to pump less groundwater,” the researchers say. In addition, one must drastically reduce the ingress of long-lived pollutants into the water cycle and consistently install “fourth cleaning stages” in sewage treatment plants. Lower Austria is leading the way here, but it is probably going too slowly.