Bachelor thesis

Anna-Sophie Strues (2015)
Application of managed aquifer recharge in Asia. Bachelor thesis, Technische Universität Dresden, November 2014

Abstract

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) describes a variety of technologies which all aim to augment freshwater supplies either by enhanced infiltration of surface water into an aquifer or by hindering the flow of underground water. Even though MAR sites are built in abundance by public and private investors in Asia there are comparatively few scientific case studies and up to today there exist no comprehensive overview of MAR sites in Asia. In this work an index for Asia MAR sites was developed based on the European MAR catalogue by the EU project DEMEAU. During research, parameters were added when a certain type of information was repeatedly reported in the literature or when deviations of existing fields appeared that could not be converted directly. The assembled data on MAR in Asia was compared to the European MAR catalogue. The main diference between both countries was their motivation for using MAR. Europe wants to preserve its natural resource by not using groundwater for human use which is reflected in river water as main influent source and water quality as primary objective. Asia on the other hand reacts to an already existing problem: overexploitation of groundwater which is shown in the two main objectives maximize natural storage and physical aquifer management. Other diferences like most common MAR type were mostly caused by geology and climate.