Water Supply Management
Water supplies
The majority of the surface water supply is provided by Danube and Drava, running on the eastern and southern boundaries of the area. Also essential is the water supply of Lake Balaton in the west, but the use of its water is quite restricted. The utilizable water output in the region together with the creeks is about 750 m3/s. At the same time, due to the disadvantageous distribution of water supply and water demand, the reserved water supply is only about 5 m3/s.
Because of all this, new and more significant water utilizations are only possible next to or along the Danube and Drava, in the inner parts of the area; only water-storage reservoirs can allow for larger amounts of usable water.
Water-base protection
Besides surface water, we also have water below the ground: groundwater, stratum water, water filtered by the banks of rivers and also karstic water. The majority of the drinking-water supply is from here, under the ground.
One of the biggest problems and tasks of water supply is the protection of the drinking-water bases. A relatively significant part of them is under protection, but in the area of the Directorate, there are quite a number of geologically unique, but vulnerable water bases. Among these are some surface and underground karstic waters (like Tettye and Bükkösd), and also stratum-water wells, which are also considered vulnerable water bases since their depth is relatively small, or their surface stratum is missing. The protection of these vulnerable water bases is regulated by a decree which is already put into action. Such protected areas are designated by experts in accordance with the 123/1997. (VII. 18.) Decree. In Pécs, the citizens are affected by the inspection of the karstic water bases, because the one in Tettye, supporting the largest part of the county seat is one of such water sources.
Number of operating vulnerable water bases: Somogy 27, Tolna 2, Baranya 76
Future supplies
Not only the underground and surface water supplies are worth mentioning, but we must speak of future water bases as well. The government has launched a programme for long-term water management strategies regarding future water bases. The goal is to discover, demarcate, and protect these water bases. Taking this into account, it is hoped that these water bases will be able to supply future demands. The work has begun, and based on research, on the territory of DDKÖVIZIG, eleven future supplies have been mapped out. These are such areas where the water is in its natural state, and exploitation will be economically profitable, the area around the water base is free of human intervention, i.e. relatively pollution free, and there is nothing apparently obstructing the protection of the base from pollutants.
Capacities of future water supplies to be protected (thousand cubic meters/day)
The protection of future water supply is important because scientist and researchers have warned about water shortage. The task of the present day is to conserve and protect the water bases. This calls for complex work, which can be specified in two phases.
First, these future water bases need to be put into safety. The second phase is to maintain this level of safety.
The investment programs for their creation and protection aim at the first phase. Within the territory of the Directorate, up to this day, research has been concluded in eight areas, and in three areas investigations are still being done. Data collection and the assessment of basic conditions have been completed, as well as the designation of the protection zones. Observation wells were made, these are capable of following changes in water levels and also quality. The Directorate created large diameter test-wells,in the place of the future wells, in order to get as much information about the capacity and quality of the future base as possible. Of course, the boundaries of the protection zones have been designated as well in this phase. The preservation of the future water bases (second phase) is a governmental task (Act LVII. (1995) 2nd section (1) paragraph) the implementer being the Environmental Protection and Water Directorate of the respective area.
Our Directorate is currently performing the diagnostic studies of three future water bases, about which you can learn more under the Projects/Regional Projects menu.
Thermal and Medicinal Waters
Hungary is in a special position, because thermal and medicinal waters are closer to the surface then elsewhere. The bath-culture, which rose in the times of the Turkish rule is based on these thermal waters. A well is a thermal well if its temperature is warmer than 30 degrees Celsius. In the area of the Directorate, there are 80 thermal wells. Some of these were drilled by oil researchers, but in some cases it was the medicinal or hot water that was the reason for deep drilling. This geothermic energy will hopefully be used in an even wider range of fields in the future. At present, these wells are used for bathing and medicinal purposes (like in Harkány or Csokonyavisonta), but there are places where it is used for heating purposes (like in Bóly). There, people even take care that after heating the water is led back to the layers of rock it comes from, so that they use the heat only rather than the water itself.
But not every thermal bath is a medicinal bath. To become a medicinal bath or spa, a watwer source has to undergo a lot of strict examinations and control, and it is only possible to use them through the respective medicinal or health care institutions.
