History of the hydrogeochemical study of groundwater in the Netherlands and the research motives

Abstract

An overview is presented of research on the hydrogeochemical aspects of groundwater resources in the Netherlands conducted since the early nineteenth century. The earliest studies investigated groundwater as a resource for drinking water. The first systematic, national study was in 1868 and was motivated by the cholera epidemics at that time. At the beginning of the twentieth century, research for drinking water production was institutionalised at national level. Since the 1960s, the range of organisations involved in hydrogeochemical research has broadened. Societal motives are also identified: shallow, biogenic methane as fossil fuel (already researched since the 1890s); groundwater contamination; freshening/salinisation of aquifers; ecohydrology and nature conservation; aquifer thermal energy storage; national and regional groundwater monitoring for policy evaluation; impact of climate change and weather variability; and occurrence of brackish groundwater and brines in the deeper subsurface. The last-mentioned has been driven by a series of motives ranging from water supply for recreational spas and mineral water production to subsurface disposal of radioactive waste. There have been two major scientific drivers: the introduction of techniques for using isotopes as tracers, and geochemical computer modelling. Another recent development has been the increasing capabilities in analytical chemistry in relation to the contamination of groundwater with emerging pollutants. Many of the motives for research emerged in the 1980s. Overall, the societal and associated technical motives turn out to be more important than the scientific motives for hydrogeochemical research on groundwater in the Netherlands. Once a research motive has emerged, it commonly tends to remain.